You Don't Know My Name
by doublecheeseburger
Summary: "Throughout life you will meet one person who is unlike any other. You could talk to this person for hours and never get bored, you could tell them things and they won't judge you. This person is your soul mate. Don't ever let them go."
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. This one is edited and I think the outcome is much better than the previous one. Hope you guys enjoy it. ^_^**

**Disclaimer: Mai-Hime is not mine. T^T**

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**You Don't Know My Name**

**Chapter 1**

_How miserably cliché could my life be?_

__

Woke up late, my bike is out of gas, and I have to push it to the nearest gas station.

Nearest. And that's like two kilometers away from the apartment.

Fuck.

I know I should have trusted the daily horoscope that I accidently subscribed via email recently. It said, "Today is going to super suck! Don't go 50 meters away from home!"

_Hell. My bad luck already began early this morning and I didn't even put my foot out of the apartment yet._

* * *

Natsuki stared blankly at the big 'X' sticker pasted on the elevator door.

"The elevator is down. You need to use the stairs," the receptionist informed.

_Double the fuck._

_

* * *

_

"Hah… Hah!" Natsuki panted heavily as she clambered up the steps to her destination. "Damn it! Why the hell does she have to have her office on the top floor?" she grunted to herself, wiping the sweat that trickled down to her chin.

After taking a deep breath, she fixed the cap on her head. "Stupid elevator. Stupid company. So much for having lots of money... Couldn't even do anything about that elevator."

She slung her courier bag over her shoulder and leapt over a few staircases in a rush to reach the top floor.

"Hope I made it on time... "

Meanwhile, Nao Yuuki was busy polishing her nails when she heard the sound of hasty footsteps coming from the far corner of the office. Her lips unconsciously curved up into a smirk as she glanced up to look at the aisle, like she was expecting to see someone.

SCREECH!

"Slow down, Kuga-san!" One of the staff chuckled lightly at seeing a raven-haired girl gliding along the aisle as she tried to avoid crashing into the wall in her haste.

"S-sorry!" The raven-haired girl just grinned as she gave a nod to the older woman. She continued to dash towards the desk at the far corner of the office where a certain red head was sitting, polishing her fingernails.

"Yeah! I made it!" Natsuki cheered as she slammed her bag atop the red head's desk. The girl behind the desk simply peered at her wrist watch and grinned at the panting girl before her.

"Sure you are, mutt. You just got it here on time," said Nao. She took the bag, unzipped it and took out the medium-sized parcel. "And why are you sweating, Kuga…?"

The raven-haired girl took a seat on the sofa nearby and said, "I don't know if this company holds a personal vendetta against me. Every time I want to use the elevator, it's either out of service or full! Hell, Nao… Did you know about that broken elevator!?"

"Tsk! Tsk! Natsuki-chan… I've got tons of work to be concerned about rather than think about a broken elevator." Nao slumped into her chair and continued with her nail polishing.

Natsuki quirked a brow and then she grinned, "Yeah. Like polishing and painting your nails? I've barely seen you typing on that freaking keyboard, spider. And you only touch that mouse when you're surfing for porn!"

As the word 'porn' came out of Natsuki's mouth, the whole office turned to Nao's desk. They peeked out of their own cubicles at Nao, looking intrigued.

Nao's lips curved up in an awkward smile. She swiftly pulled at Natsuki's cap to bring the raven-haired girl closer. "I'm so going to kill you and stomp on your loud mouth, mutt!" She whispered threateningly.

Natsuki simply laughed loudly as she slapped Nao's hand away from her cap. Glancing around the office, her eyes fixed on one particular door which was beautifully carved and stood out from the rest. A metal plate with the letters 'CEO' hung on the door.

"Is she here?" Natsuki asked, her eyes still on the door.

Nao sighed heavily as she unwrapped the parcel. "Oh god. You know what? Get real, mutt! She's not going to fall head over heels for you. Hell, she doesn't even know who you are!"

Natsuki frowned slightly to Nao's remark. "Of course she doesn't. I've never properly introduced myself to her. "

"Then do it!"

The blunette rest her chin atop Nao's desk, staring at the CEO's door. Not knowing the reason, she found the door incredibly interesting. Sighing heavily, she just shook her head, "I'm scared."

"You're such a pussy..." Nao snorted, her voice drifting off when the door they were staring at suddenly opened from the inside.

"Shit!" Natsuki cursed under her breath. She snapped her head from the table and turned around, facing away from the approaching figure. She managed to snatch a random magazine from Nao's table and pretended to read it, only to find that it was... a cooking magazine!?

_Since when did this spider read cooking magazines!? Argh! To hell with it!_ Natsuki inwardly grumbled. She casually flipped through the pages while her ears focused on the approaching footsteps. She could feel her own heartbeat increasing as the footsteps got closer and closer.

"Yuuki-san…" A rich, accented voice could be heard. Natsuki swore she could feel her heart stop at that moment.

"Yes, Fujino-sama?" Nao quickly stood up and fixed her slightly crumpled blouse as she smiled at the brunette near her desk.

"I've been told by Nakamura-san that he already dispatched someone to deliver a parcel," the brunette stated, not even bothering to look at the other person sitting on the chair not so far from where she was standing.

"Ah, yes! Here," Nao quickly picked up the aforementioned parcel and handed it to the taller woman.

Giving a warm smile, the brunette took the parcel and nodded. "Ookini, Yuuki-san," she said. She was about to return to her office when she halted and turned to face the red head again.

"Ara, before I forget... Would you please ask the courier boy to send yesterday's documents from Nakamura-san?"

Natsuki flinched. _Courier boy? She thinks I'm a boy!? What the hell? I've been delivering stuff for this company for months now and she hasn't even noticed that I'm a girl!?  
_  
Nao arched her brows in surprise when she heard it. _Wow… Is she blind or does she just not care? I'd totally understand if she didn't know that mutt's name, but to mistake her for a boy!? That's super!_

"Okay, Fujino-sama," Nao replied curtly as she bowed her head. The brunette simply nodded back and disappeared into her office.

Natsuki instantly let out the breath she had been holding for quite a while and gaped in shock. "A courier boy!?"

Nao laughed hysterically and banged her fist on the desk. "Oh my god. You have a crush on someone who doesn't even know whether you're a girl or a boy! This is priceless!"

"Dammit, Nao! Shut up!" Natsuki grit her teeth furiously, her face flushing into the deepest shade of crimson. Nao ignored the blunette as she laughed louder, making Natsuki's head almost burst in embarrassment.

"I'm going to Mai's! I swear I'll never talk to you again, spider!" Natsuki got off the chair and roughly snatched her bag from Nao's desk.

"Oh really?" Nao arched a brow playfully. "I'll give you 10,000 yen if you manage to keep your mouth shut and not talk to me."

Natsuki grit her teeth and clenched her fist. "Oh, I'm sure I will!! And you will pay me that money!"

Nao's mouth suddenly formed an 'O' and then she laughed, "You just talked to me, mutt!"

Realizing with what the redhead meant, another rush of heat accumulated all over the blunette's face. Annoyed, Natsuki growled and walked away from Nao's desk, exiting the office. She kicked at the door that led to the stairway and leaned her head on the cold surface of the wall.

_Now Nao is never going to stop laughing at me. And that woman thinks I'm a boy!?_

"Are you fucking kidding me!?"

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**Thanks to MaxineQ for editing this chapter for me!!! You're awesome! \(^o^)/**


	2. Chapter 2

**Haha! This is beyond my expectation. I was expecting for one or two reviews but 19! You guys are awesome! Thanks a lot!**

**Special credit to my super-awesome beta - MaxineQ**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-Hime. **

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**You Don't Know My Name**

**Chapter 2**

_Motorcycle courier. I know some of you would probably think 'What the hell is motorcycle courier?' The job is pretty easy. It's just like a postman but the working hours are flexible. I don't need to follow the 9 to 5 pace. All I do is deliver anything that needs to be delivered (and yes, anything; even roses for their stupid potential girlfriends—hell, I'm not a flower girl, for crying out loud!) And the most important thing when you're involved in this job is that the package should strictly be delivered ON TIME._

_How did I get this job? _

_It's all thanks to my stupid friend, Yuuki Nao. She's the one who got me this job. I could still remember the day when she said this to me:_

"_You're a college dropout. That means you're pretty much stupid and you lack the qualifications to get a decent job. All you have are good looks and a nice figure, though it's killing me to say this out loud. You only love riding your bike 24/7 around town, so here. There's a vacancy at the company I'm working for. You want it?" _

_Damn that spider._

_But I'm glad I took the offer. Not only does the job pay well enough, but I can do what I love most while I'm at it—riding my bike. _

_And actually, there is something else that encourages me to do this job._

_Or in particular… someone._

Natsuki parked her bike outside a busy restaurant. Taking off her helmet, she dismounted her bike and grimaced at the lunchtime rush hour. _Oh boy… How the hell am I going to get lunch?_

She took a deep breath and pushed the door open. A soft chime of the bell that hung on the door signaled her arrival. She stood amidst the loud chattering of the patrons, her brows twitching involuntarily.

"Mai-san! Three grilled fish lunch sets, and three bowls of Kagutsuchi's ramen!"

"Hai, hai!"

Seeing a glimpse of an orange-haired girl inside the kitchen, Natsuki silently smiled and took a vacant stool at the counter. Placing her helmet under the counter, she took another deep breath. She wasn't very fond of crowded places.

"Natsuki!" A cheery and child-like voice called. Natsuki immediately turned around and was met with a spiky-haired girl in an apron and a large, round tray in her hands. The girl had just finished serving the customers when she sat next to the blunette.

Smiling widely, the blunette waved a hand. "Hey, Mikoto."

_Minagi Mikoto, the self-proclaimed co-owner of this restaurant. Just because her girlfriend owns the place, she apparently owns it now too. But Nao once told me that it was Mikoto who gave some money to Mai when she started this business two years ago. She also said that Mikoto is some sort of 'ojou-sama' in the Minagi clan. _

"I'm hungry," the young girl groaned in frustration, resting her head on the counter. "Mai is so busy. She didn't cook anything for me yet." Her stomach growled loudly, indicating that she needed to be fed. Now. Natsuki laughed and patted Mikoto's head. The younger girl pouted cutely and yawned.

_Like I believe a damn thing that comes out of that spider's mouth. Ojou-sama? Mikoto? Give me a break._

"Where's Mai?" A husky voice was heard from behind the two girls. "If she leaves Mikoto like this for another thirty minutes, I'm sure she'll go berserk."

Natsuki and Mikoto turned around at the same time to look. A short-haired girl was standing right behind them as she took off her spectacles.

"Yo, Natsuki!" She gave the blunette's shoulder a pat.

_Harada Chie. The major heartbreaker in town. There was a rumor saying that she slept with almost every girl in Fuuka. Except me, of course. But I don't know about Mai, Mikoto or Nao. I don't think I want to know the details anyway. But if Nao did sleep with this woman, I swear I will laugh my ass off, put it on, and laugh it off again!_

"You're done with the photo shoot?" Natsuki asked as she watched the other girl take the stool right beside her.

_Chie is a photographer. She's quite renowned in this town, working with lots of girls and models. There was even one time she flirted with me when I was assigned to deliver something to her studio. She ended up with a bruised and bleeding nose, courtesy of my 'super-fast and extreme reflex towards flirting' fist. Since then, we became good friends. _

_Never thought a fist could start a friendship._

Chie simply nodded and sighed wearily. "Yeah, for today. Got another three tomorrow morning…" she said while stroking her short dark hair.

Natsuki hummed in response and both girls turned to observe the kitchen area where a certain orange-haired girl rushed back and forth preparing food.

"She really needs some assistants in there," Natsuki remarked, taking a sip from the glass of cold water one of the waitresses had served.

Chie chuckled and shook her head. "I've told her many times to get some people to help her out with the cooking. She said she could handle it. Besides, she doesn't want other people to know her secret recipes."

Natsuki snorted in amusement, "Can't blame her for that."

"Can't blame her for what?"

The sudden voice interrupted them. Natsuki and Chie spun around and saw a certain red head standing behind them with a wide grin on her face. Her grin widened even more when she saw Natsuki giving her a frown and looking away.

"Ara, Natsuki-han. Don't be like that. What can I do to make you forgive me?" Nao faked the Kyoto accent. She even put a finger under her chin, just like her employer's trademark pose. Natsuki flinched.

"Stop that! It's creepy." Natsuki cringed in disgust. "And your accent is awful!"

Nao burst into laughter and banged a fist on the counter top. "Oh my god. I can't believe you're so into my boss!"

_As you guys already know, this woman is Yuuki Nao. My sworn enemy and also my pain-in-the-ass childhood friend. She knows everything about me, literally, and I swear on my Ducati that she could write a very embarrassing biography about me from A down to Z. _

Chie's eyes widened. "What? Natsuki, you're still into that woman?"

Nao quirked an eyebrow. "And the best part about it is that Fujino thinks Natsuki is a bo—"

"OKAY!" Natsuki barked furiously before Nao could finish. She glared at the redhead. "Just shut up, Nao! You want to tell the whole world about what happened this morning?"

Nao simply arched her brows and she grinned again. "Why, yes."

"Argh! I know I should've killed you when I had the chance!" Natsuki waved her hands dramatically while Nao and Chie already went into a laughing frenzy.

Finally, Mai approached them and placed a plate of sandwiches and a large bowl of ramen on the counter.

"Natsuki, calm down. Here! Have some lunch," the orange-haired girl said. "Mikoto! Wake up!" Mai rapped a hand on the counter top, making the spiky haired girl snap instantly from her sleep.

_Tokiha Mai. The owner of the Kagutsuchi restaurant. She's a really good cook and a very good friend of mine. I asked her why she picked 'Kagutsuchi' for the name of the place and all she told me was,_

"_Because it sounds edible…"_

_How ridiculous is that? People want to eat the food from the restaurant, not the restaurant itself! Besides, it sounds more like a strip club rather than a restaurant. A very, very hot strip club. The slutty-looking neon sign outside the place isn't helping things either. _

_But I decided to leave it at that. I don't want to tell her what I think about that name. I'm afraid that she will take away my 'free lunch' privilege. _

_What a friendship._

"I'll have to see you guys later," Mai said and gave her friends an apologetic smile. "I need to get back to the kitchen." And with that, she disappeared into the kitchen.

After her laughter subsided, Nao took a seat next to Chie. "Mutt, you need to get back to the office after lunch," she informed. "Fujino asked me to tell you, the _courier boy_, to deliver some documents to Nakamura Heavy Industries," she giggled when Natsuki shot her a death glare.

Chie almost choked on her drink when she heard it. "Wha—? Fujino called Natsuki a courier b—" Instead of laughing out loud, Chie quickly shut her mouth when Natsuki shot her the same glare.

Natsuki decided to focus on her lunch and took a small bite from her sandwich. She turned to Nao, "Why didn't you bring those damned documents along with you? You know you were going to meet me here!"

"I decided to leave them in the office because they're heavy," Nao answered curtly.

Natsuki rolled her eyes in exasperation. She took the last piece of her sandwich and grabbed her helmet, motioning to leave.

"Eh, Natsuki? Where are you going?" Mai emerged after finishing her chores and saw her blunette friend putting on her jacket.

"Well apparently this spider here loves to make me suffer," Natsuki glared at Nao. "I need to get back to the office now. I have a delivery."

Mai sighed and shook her head at Nao, who giggled mischievously. "Mou, Nao-chan. You're so evil sometimes, you know?"

"I'm always evil. But mostly to the mutt." Nao laughed again. Chie just patted Natsuki's shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"Those documents should be the last delivery for today, right?" Natsuki finished up her sandwich and grabbed her drink from the counter. After a few swigs, she sighed in contentment.

Nao seemed to ponder for awhile and then she nodded, "Yeah, I think so."

Grabbing her keys and her helmet with one arm, Natsuki walked towards the door. "Great. See you guys tomorrow then."

"Natsuki! Don't forget tonight! Like the usual, okay?" Mai reminded her a tad louder since Natsuki was at the door ready to leave.

"Right, okay! See you tonight, Mai," Natsuki waved her hand slightly and stepped out of the restaurant. Gazing up to the sky, Natsuki lifted her right hand to shade her eyes from the bright sunlight.

_It's still early. My shift at the workshop starts at 3:00 pm. So that means I can go see her after I send those stupid documents! _

Her emerald eyes brightened, and she chuckled. "Maybe I should go grab some lunch for her too…"

* * *

Several minutes later Natsuki arrived at the office and stepped inside. It was surprisingly quiet.

_Oh yeah, it's lunch hour… No wonder it's quiet in here… _

Natsuki didn't bother taking off her helmet; she only came to the office to take the documents from Nao's desk. She walked towards the desk unhurriedly and looked around for said documents. _Where the hell did she put those freaking documents!_

She rummaged through loads of Nao's files, the small cupboard near the window, and lastly, the drawer. Natsuki pulled the drawer open and was presented with a huge stack of adult magazines and some other _unmentionables_.

_What the—? _Natsuki couldn't contain her smirk. She shook her head in amusement. _Seriously, spider…? I wonder how you can keep this job while all you ever do is read and surf for porn—_

"Excuse me."

Natsuki's eyes widened in a split second and she snapped her head up to look. _Oh shit! What is she doing here?_

Right before her was the very woman who had been haunting her days and nights. Natsuki was almost choking on her own breath.

_Fujino Shizuru…_

She thought about her during her sleep, when she was fixing her bike, when she was bathing. _And when I'm peeing too…_

"Are you looking for something?" The brunette asked again, staring at the person behind the helmet with an intrigued look.

_Yes I am… I'm looking for… you. _Her eyes widened again. _Shit! What am I thinking! Dammit! She's asking you right now! What are you doing here, Kuga? And Nao had to keep some porn magazine inside her drawer…_

Shaking off the thought from her head, she attempted to speak, "I—uh… I'm looking for the porn magazine…" She blurted out loud in panic.

Silence engulfed them both as they stared into each other's eyes for a good fifteen seconds.

Shizuru slightly arched her eyebrows at what she heard. "A porn magazine…?" she repeated. Her eyes were staring at Natsuki who was clad in an over-sized leather jacket and a black helmet.

Natsuki blinked a few times. Her brain made a quick replay of the brunette's question.

_Wait, what! _Realizing that she had said something awfully stupid, a sudden rush of heat accumulated all over her face. _Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT! _

Luckily her face was hidden behind the dark visor of her helmet.

"N-NO!" Natsuki snapped and stood up from Nao's chair. "I—I mean… Nao told me there are some documents that need to be delivered. I—I'm looking for those documents…" _Oh, come on! Stop stuttering, dammit!_

Shizuru seemed to ponder for a moment. "Ara? You mean for Nakamura Heavy Industries? No wonder you couldn't find them. I took them to my office awhile ago. A few corrections had to be made. Would you mind waiting for a minute? I'll go get them for you," she explained with a bright smile on her face.

_Oh my Lord. That smile could surely brighten my entire apartment. Then I wouldn't have to pay for electricity bills. _Natsuki almost fainted when she saw that dazzling smile. "Y-yeah! S-sure! I'll wait."

Shizuru gave her a nod before walking back into her office. Natsuki let out a heavy breath she was unconsciously holding. _That stupid spider! She made me embarrass myself even without being here! Fuck her and fuck all her porn magazines! _She clenched her fists furiously. Her face still tingled with heat.

Taking another deep breath, Natsuki watched the brunette walking towards the large wooden table inside her office. _I'm sure she thinks I'm a bloody pervert. Oh god. _She sighed as she looked down, noticing her attire.

_Just great! With my over-sized jacket and my face hidden behind this freakin' helmet, she's probably thinking that I'm a bloody perverted man! _Natsuki reflexively slapped her helmet in frustration.

Unaware of what Natsuki was doing outside the office, Shizuru took a stack of papers from her desk. After going over the documents one last time, Shizuru slipped the papers into an A-4 sized envelope and sealed it.

"Here," Shizuru smiled again as she handed the envelope over to Natsuki.

Natsuki flipped her dark visor up to read the address written on the envelope. "Nakamura Heavy Industries. Got it." She tilted her head up to look at the brunette.

… and their eyes met.

Shizuru was slightly stunned when she saw a pair of vivid emerald orbs staring back at her with such intensity. _He has such beautiful eyes. _Quickly shaking off the thought, she curved her lips to smile at the person before her and saod, "Sorry for taking your time."

"I—It's okay. It is my job anyway…" Natsuki smiled awkwardly, though her smile was concealed behind her helmet. Shizuru just chuckled.

_Seriously, I need to get away from her before I start embarrassing myself again,_ Natsuki thought_. _"I better go now. Sorry for bothering you, Fujino-sama…" Natsuki quickly flipped her visor down, gave a slight bow and walked away.

"Ara, wait—" Shizuru started, but her voice trailed off since Natsuki already scampered out of the office as if she was being chased by wild dogs. Letting out a disappointed sigh, Shizuru shook her head and smiled.

"I was about to ask for his name…"

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**My beta said I should add some more, but I decided to leave it like this... just want make you guys wait... (evil grin) hahahaha~**

**Okay, thanks for reading. Review anyone?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh yeah! New chappie is here! Thanks a lot guys for the reviews! You guys are super-awesome! (I'm sorry I couldn't reply to any review. I'm so damn busy this week... Even my beta thought that I was already dead... XD)**

**So, happy reading then. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-HiME! Grahhhh~**

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**You Don't Know My Name**

**Chapter 3**

She stared intently at the absently grinning blunette in front of her. They were having lunch together and Natsuki would often smile to herself, much like she was doing now, and it perturbed her. Letting out a sigh, she put her hamburger down and folded her arms.

"Seriously, stop smiling like that. You're freaking me out, 'Nee-chan," the young blonde said as she scowled at the older girl across the table.

Natsuki arched a brow and stared at the concerned face of the blonde before her. "What? No, I wasn't smiling."

"Oh? So what do you call _that_, then?" she pointed at the blunette's crooked lips.

"It's nothing," Natsuki shook her head and chuckled, placing her arms on the table top. "I'm just happy today, Alyssa-chan," she admitted.

Alyssa's bright sapphire eyes widened in surprise. "Eh? Happy about what?" she picked up her hamburger again and took a small bite.

_Alyssa. My sister. _

"Nothing," Natsuki repeated. "Just happy that I finally have some free time to spend with my lovely little sister," she said, and she instantly burst into laughter at the incredulous look Alyssa shot her.

_Half sister actually. She's been living together with me since she was 9 years old. _

"Reeeaaally…?" Alyssa said in a low, unconvinced tone as she arched her brows mischievously.

"Oh, come on!" Natsuki threw her arms up and let out and exasperated sigh. "Give me some credit! I do feel happy that we can finally do this after such a long time," she said as she gestured at food on the table.

_But the way we interact with each other like we've been living together since we're born. Funny thing is she's the sister I never knew I have before. She just popped up at my door 4 years ago with one American woman from The Office of Child Support Enforcement._

_Yes. America._

"_Miss Kuga, I presume?" She could speak in Japanese! Awesome!_

"_Yes?" _

"_My name is Maria Graceburt, from America's Offce of Child Support Enforcement… And this is Alyssa Sears…"_

_That was how we met. _

"We barely see each other," Natsuki continued. "I mean, yeah, we see each other at home but I usually get back from work really late and by then you'd already be asleep. And when you get up early for school in the morning, _I_ would still be asleep," Natsuki scratched her cheek sheepishly as she stared at her little sister who looked a little stunned at her Onee-chan's words.

_Our mother used to be an engineer in America back when she was still alive. My father… I don't wanna talk about him. __I decided I didn't want to follow my mom because my English is so awful… Even my landlord's cat couldn't understand a single English word that came out from my mouth._

_Of course he couldn't. He's a cat, moron. _

_Back to the story…_

_My mom died in a car accident when I was still in middle school. She did left me some trust fund which I had spent very 'wisely'. I bought a Ducati, DRIII Limited Edition which brought me to a situation where I had to eat plain bread for the rest of year until I got a part-time job at Yamada's Workshop. _

_And when I graduated from high-school, super-excited to get into college life – BAM! – All of sudden, I got a SISTER! _

_Nice mom._

_Alyssa's dad already passed away when I first met her that day. Miss Maria told me that her father died because of some sort of heart disease. His father knew about me from my mother and had signed a will where I have to be the sole guardian for his daughter when he died. Ironically, Alyssa got no other family member in America who could take care of her. _

_Nice one, step-dad!_

"I miss this. I miss having breakfast, lunch, and dinner with you," Natsuki said and smiled, making the younger girl blush faintly.

"I'm sorry I doubted you, 'Nee-chan. I miss you too," Alyssa chuckled in slight embarrassment, holding back the tears. Natsuki leaned forward and ruffled Alyssa's golden locks, making the young blonde giggle.

Natsuki took a deep breath and leaned back against her chair. "But actually… I'm also happy for another reason," she grinned.

Alyssa's shoulders slumped almost immediately. "I knew it." she muttered under her breath. Her older sister laughed.

"Hey! Happy stuff need to be shared, okay?" said Natsuki. "Sharing is caring, you know…"

"Yeah, right…" Alyssa deadpanned as she continued to munch on her burger. "Like, 'I'm so happy that she finally talked to me' kind of stuff?"

Natsuki's eyes widened in an instant. "How did you know that?" she exclaimed.

Alyssa pointed at her hamburger. "The burger told me via telepathy," she nonchalantly stated.

"Really, Alyssa?" Natsuki sighed, and shook her head. "I'm serious here."

Alyssa tried her best to contain a giggle as she took another bite of her lunch. "It was all over your face, 'Nee-chan," she said. "What else could possibly keep you smiling like that since the very moment I saw you at the school gate?" Alyssa shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're so easy to read, 'Nee-chan. Other people might take advantage of you."

Natsuki narrowed her eyes. "How old are you again?"

Taking another bite, Alyssa blinked a few times before saying, "Thirteen."

"You talk like a 60-year-old granny sometimes, Alyssa. It's scary," Natsuki pretended to shiver slightly. Alyssa tossed a crumpled tissue at her face and the blunette laughed. It was true, as Alyssa would often act more mature than what was expected of her age. While Natsuki was proud of this, it was still fun teasing her little sister about it.

After her laughter subsided, Natsuki took a sip of orange juice from Alyssa's glass. "So, do you have any school activities after—" Natsuki stopped mid-sentence and made a face. "Damn! It's sour!" she exclaimed pertaining to the juice, making the blonde girl giggled.

_It's not like I'm complaining. I'm actually grateful that Alyssa came into my life. She made me understand one word which I never gave a damn about before._

_Responsibility._

"Hahaha~ No, I don't have any more things to do at school, 'Nee-chan," Alyssa said mirthfully. "What about you? Are you free after this?" she asked expectantly.

Natsuki smiled apologetically with a shake of her head. "I'm sorry, Alyssa. I have work at the workshop until eight and I need to help Mai with the midnight food delivery too."

"Don't you think you're working yourself too hard, 'Nee-chan?" Alyssa said with concern. "Why don't you let me go find a part-time job? At least you don't have to work all day long," she offered with a cute puppy look, hoping that Natsuki would fall for it.

"Don't give me that look, Alyssa," Natsuki chuckled softly. "And you already know the answer to that. Besides, who's going to hire a middle-schooler anyway?"

"Well, I did ask around the town and I found this—"

"No."

Alyssa pouted. "Why?"

Natsuki leaned forward and gave her sister an assuring smile. She reached out for Alyssa's hand and said, "You know I will never allow you to work. Don't worry. I can manage. All I want from you are good marks in school." She grasped the smaller hand gently. "That's not too much to ask for, right?"

Holding back her tears, Alyssa nodded her head a few times. "I'm just sorry I can't be of help."

"I've told you many times before. Don't worry about it," said Natsuki earnestly.

_Besides, it's happy to know that there's someone waiting for you at home after working all day long… _

"Okay." Alyssa sniffed and willed her tears not to fall. Her sister truly cared for her and she only wished she could be of help somehow to keep Natsuki from overworking herself.

Giving a soft pat on Alyssa's hand, Natsuki smiled again. "Don't cry. You know how much I hate to see that. Just finish up your lunch."

Alyssa easily acquiesced with a light chuckle. "Okay."

_And at least, I don't have to be alone anymore._

_

* * *

_

"Where to?" Natsuki asked, turning to Mai while fastening her helmet on. "Hop on, Mikoto!" she gestured at the empty seat behind her. The spiky-haired girl didn't wait long and hopped on the seat happily.

Mai handed over a piece of paper where the addresses were written. "Only three deliveries and you're done for tonight. I want to close the restaurant early. I'm kinda tired to stay up late," Mai explained.

Natsuki nodded as she took the paper and read it. "Nice. Means I can go home early too."

Mai smiled as she secured a helmet on Mikoto's head. "Hold on to Natsuki, okay?" she told her and the younger girl nodded.

"And you!" Mai shot a glare at the dumbfounded blunette. Natsuki widened her eyes in surprise when she saw Mai's intimidating violet orbs.

"What?"

"Drive slowly! I know you drive like a speed demon! I don't want Mikoto to get hurt, okay?" Mai scowled.

Natsuki sighed. "Okay, mom. Don't worry," she waved offhandedly. "I won't be driving too fast. Only about a hundred miles per hour—"

"Natsuki!" the orange-haired girl yelled, but only a trail of smoke was left when Natsuki revved up her bike into full speed and charged forward, leaving her busty friend alone at the restaurant's back entrance.

* * *

They stopped at the final destination for the night; a luxurious-looking apartment complex.

Taking off her helmet, Natsuki gazed up at the tall building. "Damn… What a beautiful place."

"Natsuki, we need to get to the 55th floor," Mikoto said as she hopped off the bike while carrying the box of food.

"Why don't you stay down here while I take the food upstairs?" Natsuki suggested. "You did the other two deliveries. Let me do this one."

"Okay!" Mikoto nodded and Natsuki took the box from her hands.

Natsuki grinned and started walking until she reached the security booth by the large gates.

"Good evening, sir," she greeted. "I have a delivery from Kagutsuchi for 55-B."

The middle-aged security guard gave her an intrigued stare before nodding. "Please enter," he said as he unlocked the gate. Natsuki gave him a nod and proceeded inside.

The area was quiet, much to her liking. _Damn! When I have the money, I'll be sure as hell to bring Alyssa to live here! _She inwardly smiled at her thoughts while heading for the elevator. Upon arriving she pressed the upward call button and leaned her back against the wall next to the elevator door, waiting.

_DING!_

Natsuki instantly straightened up at hearing the familiar sound. The elevator door slid open to reveal three girls walking out. Natsuki could feel them eyeing her from head to toe and giggling as they walked past.

_Stupid rich kids… _Natsuki shook the thought off her head and stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for level 55. Resting her back against the cool metal wall, she sighed. She stared at the blinking red digital display above the buttons. She mentally counted along as the numbers shifted on the display.

_53… 54… 55…_

_DING! _

"Finally… And it has to be at the top floor of all places," she inwardly grumbled as she stepped out the elevator. Her eyes roamed the area, searching for 55-B. _Each floor has ten residences. This floor starts with 55-J, 55-I… That means 55-B must be at the end of this corridor._

Natsuki gripped the food box she was assigned to deliver and accelerated in her step until she reached 55-B. She halted in front of the door, her eyes spotting the name plate beside the doorframe.

_Fujino Shizuru Residence. Oh, so the customer's name is Fujino Shizuru... _

She brought a hand up to knock, but paused to read the name plate again, mentally practicing a couple of lines.

_Good evening, Fujino-san. Here's your order—_

She blinked.

_FUJINO? _Natsuki's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets in realization. The surrounding air felt thick all of a sudden, like there was an invisible pressure on her chest. Her heart thumped loudly against her ribcage, she swore she could hear it.

_What am I going to do? What am I going do? _Natsuki found herself pacing back and forth along the corridor in panic. _Shit! Get a hold of yourself, Kuga! You're not going to stand here until dawn breaks and Mikoto gets hit by a petrol truck when she falls asleep on the road! Mai will kill you!_

Taking a deep breath, Natsuki lightly slapped her face to regain her wits. _Alright, this is the chance for me to properly introduce myself… as a girl, not some courier boy she always thought I was. _Natsuki nodded, feeling confident. She again lifted a hand and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, a voice from inside the room spoke,

"_Yes?"_

She could feel herself shiver slightly when she heard the voice. "I have a delivery from Kagutsuchi, ma'am," she calmly replied with all the confidence she could muster. She could hear footsteps approaching from behind the door. She stared at the floor, waiting for the door to be opened.

"Ara."

_What the—? _Her brow twitched on its own accord when she heard an unfamiliar voice, but with a familiar accent. Looking up, she was presented with a brunette clad in a dark purple bath robe, leaning against the door frame as she regarded Natsuki with curious eyes.

_Thank god it's not Fujino-san, but… _Natsuki eyed the anonymous woman before her. Her hair had almost the same shade as the hair of the woman whom she was madly in love with, only the length was shorter.

"If I knew the Kagutsuchi restaurant had such a cutie for a delivery girl, I'd order take out every day," the woman said with an alluring smile as her grey eyes stared intently at a flabbergasted pair of emerald orbs.

_Wait… A cutie? _Natsuki was about to retort when the other woman turned to look inside the apartment, and called out,

"Shizuru-honey, did you order something from Kagutsuchi?"

Natsuki could feel her heart ripping when she heard it. _Shizuru-honey? What in the—? Did she just call my Shizuru— *cough* —erm, I mean Fujino-san, 'Shizuru-honey'? Who the hell is this woman?_

"Yes, I did. Has it arrived, Anh?" came the faint reply from inside, implying that the speaker was somewhere far from the door.

Turning to face the troubled-looking blunette, the woman named Anh smiled at her again, to which Natsuki unconsciously frowned in response. "Yes, it's here…" Anh's smirk grew wide as she locked her gaze at the undeniably attractive girl before her.

"Why are you looking so distressed, _kawaii ojou-san_?" Anh deliberately leaned forward, inching closer to the raven-haired girl.

By reflex, Natsuki stepped away, earning another wide smile from the brunette.

"N-no reason… I'm just here to do my job. H-here's the food that you ordered." She held up the food box with her right hand and tried her best to avert her eyes from meeting the mischievous grey ones. She could feel a good amount of heat rushing towards her cheeks.

_Oh my god… So cute! _Anh had to restrain herself from squealing when she saw Natsuki's blushing cheeks, "Thank you…" she said and reached out for the box, intentionally grazing her hand against the blunette's pale skin.

"Would you mind to waiting for a moment? I'll get the money for you."

Natsuki simply nodded and watched the brunette disappeared inside the apartment with the food box. Letting out a heavy breath, Natsuki rubbed her sweaty palms over her face, trying to ease her thumping heart. _Dammit! Why didn't I find this out before? She already has a bloody girlfriend! A damn beautiful girlfriend! Oh god. Why did you have to let me face this now?_

"Sorry for the wait."

Snapping out of her thoughts, Natsuki tried to keep it casual as she watched Anh opened her purse to pull out a few bills. "6000 yen. Pretty cheap for something incredibly delicious," she said as she handed the money to the blunette.

Natsuki managed a small smile and reached a hand to grab the money, but Anh suddenly pulled the cash away.

"Tell me your name first." Anh smirked.

Her dark brows unconsciously twitched again. "What?" she snapped.

Anh slowly folded her arms, keeping the money away from Natsuki's reach and repeated, "Tell me your name."

_Ugh, if I wasn't working for Mai, I'd punch this woman right here, right now! _

"Kuga," she muttered through gritted teeth.

Anh quirked an eyebrow. "Kuga what?"

Natsuki took a calming breath before speaking. "Natsuki. My name is Kuga Natsuki. Can I have the money now?" she monotoned.

The brunette chuckled lightly. "Okay, Kuga-san. Thank you for your hard work in sending the food here," Anh giggled lightly as she handed over the money.

Annoyed, Natsuki snatched the money and glared at the brunette before walking away in a huff.

"See you tomorrow night!" Anh called out to her from afar as she stepped into the elevator.

_Like I'd want to see you again, you damned woman! I'll let Mikoto send you the food next time you order!_ Natsuki closed her eyes and tried to calm her pounding heart.

_Fujino Shizuru already has a girlfriend. Great._

Banging her fist against the metal wall, Natsuki grit her teeth in frustration.

"Just great."

* * *

The restaurant was almost empty when Natsuki and Mikoto arrived since Mai had already flipped the sign outside the door from 'Open' to 'Closed'.

"We're back."

Natsuki and Mikoto stepped into the restaurant and found a familiar pair of women seated at the counter eating a late dinner.

"Could you give the money to Mai, Mikoto? Thanks," Natsuki handed Mikoto their total collection and the younger girl quickly disappeared into the kitchen.

Natsuki placed her helmet on the counter before taking a seat next to Chie. "Quite late for dinner, Chie. Had a lot of work today?"

"No." Chie answered curtly, slowly slurping her ramen.

Natsuki quirked a brow in surprise, not used to receiving such a response from her friend. She turned to the redhead on her left who was currently enjoying her midnight meal as well.

"You guys know it's not good to eat after midnight, right?" Natsuki asked, her gaze swinging back and forth between the two women on either side of her.

"Just shut up, mutt! We're hungry, okay?" Nao snapped and shot her a glare.

"Okay…" Natsuki frowned, a little taken aback by her two friends. She placed her arms on top of the counter and said cautiously, "What's going on with you guys?"

Chie sighed heavily as she put down her chopsticks. "Have you ever been just chillin' around one day and you ask your woman to do something so trivial, but then suddenly it turns into a civil rights movement, Natsuki?"

"What?"

"She's never had a girlfriend before, Harada. No point asking her," Nao took the liberty to interrupt. Natsuki glared at her menacingly.

"Fine! I don't want to know about it, then." Natsuki waved a hand dismissively and muttered, "I got myself a big slap on the face already."

"WHAT? Who slapped you?" Both her friends stared at Natsuki in complete shock.

"Not a real slap," Natsuki explained with a sigh. "But it was a real shocker, you know." She leaned down to rest her chin on the counter. "I should've known about this before…"

"About what, mutt?" Nao asked in anticipation as she pulled her stool to sit closer to the blunette. Chie pushed her ramen bowl away as the two turned their attention to Natsuki.

"Did you know that your boss already has a girlfriend?" Natsuki told Nao in a miserable voice. Her two friends gasped at the revelation.

"Whoa, really?" Nao slightly frowned. "I never knew about that. How'd you find out?"

"Yeah. I had to deliver food to her apartment earlier but I didn't know it then. And then this woman came out and called your boss 'Shizuru-honey'." Natsuki sighed and shook her head at the memory.

"I don't know why I even try," Natsuki continued. "Her girlfriend is beautiful, rich and all the other adjectives you could think of to describe a classy person. I feel like a moron…"

Chie patted Natsuki's back comfortingly. "I'm sorry, Natsuki…"

"I really don't know what to do," said Natsuki, sighing once again. "I'm so lost right now. She's the main reason why I work for her company day and night… But now…" Natsuki trailed off and buried her face into her arms.

"Compared to your problem, mine's in a different league, mutt," Nao said with nonchalance. "Stop whining like you have prostate cancer."

Natsuki straightened up at Nao's lack of sympathy and glared at the redhead. "What the hell, spider! You should at least have some sympathy for what I'm going through!"

"Well, _you _should at least be grateful that you don't have to deal with a man who farts every damn second!"

After a moment of silence, loud laughter erupted, the sounds reaching as far as the kitchen.

"Hahaha! Oh my god!" Chie struggled for balance on her chair as she laughed so hard. "So your boyfriend _farts_? Everybody does that, Nao! It's not a big deal!" she said between guffaws. Natsuki was laughing hysterically, burying her face into her arms to muffle her giggles.

"Shut up you two! You're not helping! And FYI, he's not my boyfriend anymore," Nao harrumphed and arrogantly folded her arms. "And I can't believe he does it in public!"

"Yeah, it's real hard to believe that men have the ability to let air out from their colons. Call Ripley!" Natsuki mocked, earning another hysterical laugh from Chie and a smack on the head from Nao.

"Come on, spider! You're talking like you fart sunshine and cute kittens. Truth is, you don't. Unless your fart starts smelling like cinnamon buns with raisins, quit whining." Natsuki said with another laugh and slung an arm over Nao's shoulder.

"And the last thing I want to hear before I close my restaurant is people talking about farts! Go home you three! You're ruining my night!" Mai yelled from inside the kitchen, making the three girls scampered out of the restaurant in panic.

Once they got outside, Natsuki stretched her arms and chuckled. "Oh, man… At least I don't feel so down anymore. Thanks for that fart story, Nao." She giggled and Nao shot her a death glare.

"So, are you going to work tomorrow?" Nao asked while stroking her hair, glad that she found something else to talk about.

"Hell, if I'm not going to work, who else will be paying the bills? Maybe I just need to learn to get her off my mind." Natsuki smiled faintly and sighed. "Well, see you guys tomorrow then," she waved and headed for her motorbike.

"Yeah! Don't worry, Natsuki! There will be a lot of women lining up for you! Stop by my studio sometime! I'll introduce you to some cute girls!" Chie waved as the blunette laughed, waving back at her.

"See you tomorrow, mutt. Don't cry in bed because Fujino has a girlfriend already," Nao laughed as she dashed towards her car.

"Damn you, spider…" Natsuki muttered, her voice trailing off as Nao disappeared inside her car. Shaking her head, she proceeded to walk until she got to her bike.

Lifting up her helmet, Natsuki stared at the glossy black surface. "Get her off my mind, huh?" she spoke to herself and laughed bitterly.

_I just wish I knew how._

_

* * *

_

Natsuki woke up earlier than usual the next morning not because she felt refreshed or excited, but because she couldn't sleep.

Alyssa had gone to school and Natsuki found breakfast already prepared for her. She stared blankly at the empty bowl, the box of cereal, and the jug of milk on the table.

_No point feeling upset now. You have your own life. You have a sister to take care of._

Smiling silently, Natsuki pulled a chair and poured cereal into her bowl.

_Put yourself together and get to work! You can do it, Kuga Natsuki!_

_

* * *

_

"I can't do it."

Natsuki banged her forehead on top of Nao's desk and grunted in frustration.

Nao sighed for the umpteenth time that morning ever since the blunette arrived whining on about how she couldn't get a certain Fujino Shizuru out of her head.

She rolled her eyes. "Do you want me to do it for you? I'll crack your skull open and wash it with bleach to make sure anything related to Fujino will no longer exist in your stupid brain," the redhead droned. Natsuki just glared at the red head.

Tilting her head to the side, Natsuki stared at Shizuru's office door. "Is she here?" she asked apprehensively.

"Yeah, along with a bunch of other people," Nao answered while she crossed her legs and continued polishing her nails. "Maybe they're having a meeting," she added.

Natsuki pulled her hair up, tying it into a ponytail and putting on her cap. "Maybe I should go to work now. Her meeting might go on for hours so there's no point waiting for her. Oh god, I'm so pathetic." She shook her head and put on her jacket to leave.

"Gotta go now, spider—"

_BAM!_

All eyes in the office turned to look for the source of the noise. An annoyed brunette stepped out of her office and strode briskly towards Nao's desk. Natsuki stared wide-eyed at the uncharacteristic expression on Shizuru's face.

_Shit! _Nao blindly tossed her nail polish away and stood up from her chair in a panic to greet her boss. "F-Fujino-sama! What can I do for you…?"

Nao's voice trailed off when Shizuru didn't answer; instead, the executive grabbed Natsuki's arm and dragged the dumbfounded girl into her office.

"Fu-Fujino-sama? Mutt…?"

Nao was stunned. Natsuki was yanked into the office and the door was slammed shut.

Natsuki almost stumbled on her feet when the hand on her arm released its grip. Inside the office, she was met with the inquiring stares of two other women. They were silent for a few moments as Natsuki shifted her gaze between the other occupants of the room, a busty blonde and mousy-haired woman.

"What is going on—?" Natsuki was unable to finish when Shizuru took her left hand, entwining it with hers. Natsuki couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at their linked hands. _Oh my Lord. Were you listening to my constant prayers last night? Fujino Shizuru is holding my hand right now! Yay!_

Shizuru tightened her grip on Natsuki's hand and stole a glance at the blunette's face behind the cap. _He has a really soft hand for a man, _she thought fleetingly.

"Haruka-san, Yukino-san," Shizuru broke the silence and spoke. "Let me introduce you… "

Shizuru's next set of words had Natsuki completely astounded.

"This man here… is my boyfriend."

_What the hell—?_

_

* * *

_**Haha~ Another cliffhanger! (Laugh evilly...) XD**

**Review anyone?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry for the delay. Lots of thing happened, my laptop crashed, I got hell lot of work, my grandmother got married (just kidding... XD)**

**Anyway, hope you guys will enjoy this chapter. ^_^**

* * *

**You Don't Know My Name**

**Chapter 4**

_How did I get into this mess?_

Shizuru knew she was in trouble. She watched the only other person in the room pull her ponytail loose and long cobalt hair cascaded down like silk.

Her eyes went wide as she witnessed the revelation.

_I mean, seriously? How did I get myself into this mess?_

_Let me think._

_

* * *

_

"Hey, bubuzuke! What are you doing?"

_She didn't even bother to knock… _Shizuru sighed as she watched her busty blonde friend enter and throw herself into the leather sofa at the corner of the office. Shortly after, a mousy haired woman followed inside, smiling like it was the only thing she was good at.

"Good morning, Shizuru-san," the woman greeted.

Shizuru, who was seated behind her desk, smiled in response. "Good morning, Yukino-san. I didn't expect you two would be in town." She set her pen down and clasped her hands together in a serene manner.

"We had a meeting this morning so Haruka and I decided to drop by," Yukino explained and took a seat next to the blonde. "How are you, Shizuru-san?"

_Kikugawa Yukino. She is Haruka-san's childhood friend. Although since we frequently spend time together, she has become a good friend too. She was a very shy woman when I first met her but I eventually found out she has this cynical side. She is a more reasonable kind of woman compared to Haruka-san, who is brash and arrogant and most notably, loud._

_I think I'm starting to understand why people say 'opposites attract'._

"She's fine. You can tell by that stupid smile on her face!" Haruka exclaimed and earned a reproachful slap on the thigh from Yukino.

With an arched brow Shizuru chuckled at Haruka's comment and joined the two women seated on the sofa. "Ara, I never thought Haruka-san was such a particular type of person."

_Suzushiro Haruka. The sole heiress of the multi-billion yen Suzushiro Transport Corporation. She has been a good friend of mine since high school. We went to the same university, took the same course, after which we took over our respective family businesses. _

Haruka harrumphed. "Of course I'm particular about everything—"

"Including knowing what kind of smile I have?" Shizuru interjected mischievously.

Yukino giggled at Haruka's flushed face.

_We compete with each other over pretty much everything. Grades, awards, and the Student Council President position which I won in a landslide victory._

_And the best thing was that I didn't even have to try._

"Stop laughing, bubuzuke!" Haruka barked as the other two continued to chuckle.

Yukino waved a hand to stop her giggles. "You always end up falling for it, don't you, Haruka-chan?"

Haruka shot a glare at the mousy haired woman and folded her arms. "Fine. Can we get to the point of our visit now? I didn't come here for a chat, Fujino."

"Ara? May I know why you're here then?" Shizuru asked.

"Where is he?" Haruka demanded and scrutinized the split-second change in Shizuru's expression. It was brief, but Haruka caught a glimpse of anxiety before Shizuru composed herself.

_Not that again, _Shizuru thought, but she smiled through her uneasiness. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, Haruka-san."

_Remember when I said that Haruka and I used to compete with each other in everything?_

Haruka gave a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, right. You don't understand _at all _even when we talked about this just a few weeks ago."

_Yes. Everything._

_Even in finding a soul mate._

_

* * *

_

"_I'm dating someone."_

"_Ara? Really? Congratulations, Haruka-san! May I know who it is?"_

"_No. I'm not telling you. What about you, bubuzuke? Did you find yourself a man who can handle your foolish addiction to tea?" Haruka laughed. "…or not?"_

_I don't why, I can tolerate almost anything, but when it comes to my personal life… It is definitely the last thing I want to talk about._

"_Ara. I am too dating someone right now. I'll introduce him to you if you drop by my office." _

_I wasn't thinking of the consequences when I blurted that out. How uncharacteristically immature of me._

_

* * *

_

Shizuru tapped her cheek in a classic thinking pose. "Ara, I don't remember the topic we conversed about—"

"Stop pretending, Fujino! You promised you would introduce him!"

_I did, but I did not expect that I had to do it TODAY, or at all. _

Shizuru smiled serenely. "How unfortunate, Haruka-san. I'm afraid you'll never have a chance to see him."

Haruka's thick brows furrowed in confusion and she turned to the mousy haired woman beside her. Yukino had the same expression as she and Haruka returned their curious stares at Shizuru's calm smile.

"What do you mean by that?" Haruka questioned.

Shizuru took a calming breath and formed a weak smile. "We already broke up," she declared flatly.

Both Haruka and Yukino gaped at her in shock. "You're kidding me, right?" asked Haruka.

The brunette shrugged nonchalantly. "It just didn't work so I decided to call it quits."

Violet eyes narrowed at calm crimson orbs. "You're making this up," Haruka smirked at seeing through Shizuru's lie.

"No. It really is over, Haruka-san. We had nothing in common."

"I meant this whole boyfriend thing you told me a few weeks ago. There is no 'boyfriend' at all, isn't there? You made that up because you don't like being asked about your personal life." Haruka was smiling in triumph.

_Yes. Exactly. _Shizuru simply chuckled at her friend's remark. "I have not made anything up, Haruka-san. Like I said, I already broke up with him."

Haruka shook her head and laughed. "Oh, I know that face, Fujino. You're lying. Finally! I won! I'm in a relationship and you're not!"

_Why did I even bother competing with her on this matter in the first place? _Shizuru felt her patience slowly depleting with each of Haruka's giggles. She looked away from the blonde, who was rejoicing in victory, and…

… she spotted someone. The door of her office was ajar, allowing her to see her secretary talking to a certain courier boy who was putting on his jacket as if ready to leave.

_Just in time. _An idea clicked like a switch in Shizuru's mind. She stood up and made her way to the door.

"Oi, bubuzuke! Where are you going?"

Shizuru turned back and smiled widely. "Ara, have I mentioned that I'm dating someone new?"

Haruka's feeling of triumph disappeared. "What?"

* * *

_What the hell?_

Like a broken record, the words 'my boyfriend' replayed over and over in Natsuki's mind. She blinked. _W-what? Her boyfriend? _She was about to give Shizuru her 'what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about' look but she instead flinched when Shizuru practically crushed her hand.

_Motherfu—! Her hand is like a fucking iron clamp! _As if electric-shocked, Natsuki's body stiffened as she tried to endure the pain.

Haruka stood right in front Natsuki and stared directly into the blunette's emerald eyes. "You're her boyfriend?"

The pain started to dissipate as Natsuki's mind replayed the words again. When she didn't respond to Haruka's question, the grip on her hand tightened once more. Natsuki's brows furrowed. _I wonder what is going on with Fujino-san and this woman here. Why would she say that I'm her boyfriend? What about that woman last night? Wasn't she Fujino-san's girlfriend? And again with the "boy" thing!_

Natsuki gave the brunette a furtive glance at the corner of her eye. Shizuru's angelic features had a hint of nervousness. _Well sure, she might have her reasons. But should I play along?_ Her brain worked like a Quad Core 2.66GHz CPU.

_To the hell with it,_ Natsuki decided. She cleared her throat and spoke in a faux deep voice. "Y-yes. I'm her boyfriend…" With that, the grip on her hand gradually relaxed and loosened its hold.

Haruka cocked her brow and proceeded with the interrogation. "What's your name?"

_Name! Must figure out a name! _"K-Kuga," Natsuki blurted out as her throat started to dry. "Kuga Natsuhiko." _What the fuck? Who the hell is Natsuhiko? And why on earth did I pick that stupid name?_

Haruka nodded a few times as she paced around the poor raven-haired girl whom she had mistakenly assumed for a man.

Meanwhile Yukino, who was watching from behind, could sense that something was off. _He is too beautiful to be a man. Although it isn't rare to find a man with an appearance like that of a woman's nowadays but this one here… And he looked so surprised when Shizuru-san dragged him in here… _Yukino narrowed her eyes at the supposed couple's entwined fingers. _Ah, I knew it!_

Yukino shot Shizuru a look. The brunette simply gave her an 'I know you know that he's not my boyfriend, so please be quiet!' smile. Letting out a chuckle, Yukino shook her head, amused.

Being as dense as she could be, Haruka was totally convinced that the _girl,_ clad in a baggy jacket and jeans with her face hidden under courier cap, was a _man_.

"You're dating a courier boy?" Haruka said while pointing at the aforementioned 'courier boy'. Natsuki blinked when Haruka's finger almost touched her nose.

"Ara? Why not?" Shizuru smiled and circled her arm around Natsuki's waist affectionately.

Natsuki flinched at the sudden contact and her heart started to thump wildly again. _Oh shit. As much as I've been dreaming for this to happen, I can't let her get too close or else she will definitely blow my cover!_

As if sensing Natsuki's internal conflict, Shizuru slowly dropped her arm from the blunette's waist. _Am I imagining things or does he really have a slim waist? _Quickly shaking off the thought, Shizuru chuckled to Haruka's remark.

"Ara, ara. I don't see a problem with that, Haruka-san. Why? Do you think that Natsuhiko-kun does not deserve to date someone like me?"

_Take that, you stupid woman! My girlfriend is backing me up… wait. _After a quick pondering, Natsuki mentally sighed. _You're so easily carried away, Kuga. She's just faking it! She doesn't even know that you're actually a girl! _

Haruka frowned slightly. "I don't mean it that way, bubuzuke! I never thought _this_ kind of man was your type."

_Okay… What do you mean by that? _Natsuki had to remain calm as she watched the exchange between Shizuru and Haruka.

_Time to shut her up,_ Shizurur thought."Ara, it doesn't matter of what kind of man he is, as long as I love him…" Shizuru trailed a finger from Natsuki's cheek and down to her chin, tilting Natsuki's head up to meet her eyes, "…and Natsuhiko-kun loves me too."

Shizuru leaned forward, placing her hands on either side of Natsuki's fully blushing neck and pressed their bodies close. Slowly pulling her in, Shizuru muttered faintly so only Natsuki could hear, "I'm sorry…" Then she kissed the blunette right on her lips.

Natsuki was blushing so hard while her body had gone rigid when Shizuru made the attempt to kiss her. She could feel her mind going into overdrive when their lips met.

_Oh my fucking god… Am I kissing a cotton candy? Because it's sure as sweet as hell! _It was brief, but it was everything Natsuki could ever dream of.

After parting away from the kiss, Shizuru studied the beautiful face before her. _This is the first time I've really seen his face. He's so beautiful… Too beautiful for a man… _she thought as she dropped her hands on the blunette's chest. It was then that she noticed—no, _felt _something. She lowered her gaze at where her hands were placed.

Natsuki followed the brunette's gaze and gulped. _Oh shit. Now she knows!_

"Oh god… I can't stand to watch your lovey-dovey scene! I'm outta here!" Haruka gagged and stomped her way out the office while the heavily blushing, but amused, Yukino followed her out.

"See you later, Shizuru-san! I'm _so_ happy for you!" Yukino said with a giggle when Shizuru gave her an awkward smile.

Right after Yukino closed the door, Natsuki instantly took a step backward to distance herself from the somewhat startled brunette.

Shizuru stared at her hands. They were still warm from where they were previously placed. Both women stared into each others' eyes for only God knows how long.

_I'm in deep shit right now. _"I-I better go—" Natsuki quickly spun around to leave when Shizuru stopped her.

"Wait!"

Natsuki gulped as she slowly turned back around and lowered her head to avoid Shizuru's curious eyes. She felt as if the brunette was undressing her with her intense stare.

Shizuru narrowed her eyes again as she stared at the man—no, girl? _NO! I don't know! _

And they fell silent once again.

Natsuki tentatively raised her head to give the brunette an inquisitive look. _Okay. She asked me to wait, and she just stares at me like I'm the last courier girl on earth. Oh no, maybe my kiss was so awesome that it took away her ability to talk… _

"Y-you… are you a girl?" After approximately 10 minutes and 22 seconds, Shizuru finally blurted out the question that kept playing inside her head.

_Well… if what your hands just touched weren't obvious enough, yeah, those things are called boobs. What do you think I am? A moose? _That was the definite answer inside Natsuki's head when she was asked with such question. _But I'm not going to say it like that, right? It will surely ruin my image!_

Before she could answer, the door suddenly opened again to reveal a slim, beautiful brunette.

Natsuki's brows twitched the moment she saw the other brunette at the door. _Oh god, why the hell does she have to be here right now? _She felt like she wanted to jump out the window in frustration.

"Hey, wasn't that Haruka-san? What was she doing here?" Anh asked as she held the door open, staring at the retreating blonde and mousy haired woman heading for the exit door. Receiving no answer, Anh spun around to find two familiar figures inside the office. She stared at the dreaded emerald eyes, which stared back at her with immense intensity.

"Ara? What a surprise. I never thought I'd meet you here… again," Anh said and smiled alluringly as she closed the door.

Shizuru snapped out of her daze. "You know this person, Anh?"

Smiling wider, Anh made her way to the blunette. Without warning she took the cap off Natsuki's head. "You shouldn't hide that beautiful face behind this cap, Kuga-san."

"Give that back!" Natsuki snatched her cap from Anh's grip. Natsuki silently cursed the woman and smoothed her hair down.

"Ara? Angry?" Anh folded her arms and smiled in amusement as Natsuki pulled off her ponytail to let her hair fall loose.

Shizuru found herself astounded with the scene. Question by question came playing inside her head. She was enthralled as Natsuki's hair was revealed, as if in slow motion. She felt her heart momentarily stopping as the long dark strands cascaded down to frame Natsuki's cute, scowling face. _How beautiful…_

Folding her cap, Natsuki growled. "I won't hold back anymore if you continue to do that! I don't know you, so stop acting all friendly with me," she said and glared threateningly at the pair of mirthful grey eyes.

Unaffected by the glare, Anh dropped her hands and bowed slightly. "My name is Anh Lu. It's nice to see you again, Kuga Natsuki-san," she grinned. "So now that you know who I am, can I be friendly with you again?"

_Seriously? Here girlfriend is right here and she dares to flirt with me? _Letting out a frustrated sigh, Natsuki gave Anh one last glare and turned to give Shizuru a bow. "I'm sorry for everything, Fujino-sama. I better leave now." And without further delay, Natsuki stormed out the office, leaving the two brunettes to look at each other questioningly.

As the door closed again, Anh blinked in confusion. "She's sorry for what?"

Shizuru exhaled the breath she unconsciously held and took a seat on the sofa. "I'm in big trouble." She sighed again and buried her face in her palms.

Anh formed a surprised frown at the rare look on Shizuru's face. "What trouble?"

Shizuru leaned back to rest her head on the sofa and sighed for the umpteenth time that day, "Haruka-san came by..."

Anh strode her way to sit on the sofa right across Shizuru. "Yes. I saw her just now."

Shizuru pressed her fingers to her temple and continued, "And as usual, she was bugging me with questions about my personal life."

Anh folded her arms, scrutinizing Shizuru's uncharacteristically troubled face, "Okay. That's just so typical Haruka. No doubt about it. So what's up with you and Kuga-san?"

Shizuru shifted her gaze to stare directly into Anh's grey orbs. "I introduced Kuga-san as my boyfriend."

Anh's thin brows reflexively arched in surprise. "Oh? Wow. I never thought you would make your move before I—" then she silenced. Anh blinked a few times as she recalled, "Wait. What? Your _boyfriend?_"

Shizuru clamped her mouth shut in reluctance at first but then nodded half-heartedly. "Yes. I introduced Kuga-san as my _boyfriend _to Haruka-san and Yukino-san."

Anh's eyes went wide in disbelief. She mustered all the strength she had to hold herself from laughing, but,

"Bwahahahahahaha~!"

* * *

When the loud laughter erupted, all the staff outside the CEO's office stared at each other in wonder at what had caused such a boisterous outburst.

"Oi, mutt! What's going on in there?" Nao asked the raven-haired girl who was hastily walking past her desk.

_Those women inside are obviously talking about me. God, this is so embarrassing! _Natsuki inwardly grumbled. "I don't know and I don't want to know," she replied dryly and strode towards the elevator.

Nao was gaped at Natsuki's response. "What the hell?"

* * *

Shizuru slightly frowned in annoyance. The other brunette was laughing hysterically almost to tears.

"Would you stop laughing now, Anh?"

Anh had to cup her mouth to muffle her giggles. "Oh my god. I still can't believe you mistook such a cutie for a BOY! Hahahaha~!"

"You cannot blame me for that," Shizuru replied. "It is her fault for wearing a baggy jacket and that cap. Besides, it is common to find beautiful looking men nowadays."

Anh continued to laugh. "Even if Kuga-san was a hundred yards away from me I'd still recognize her as a girl, Shizuru. I'm surprised you didn't notice that such a beautiful girl has been working for you all this time."

Shizuru glared at her. "What do you mean by that?"

Anh grinned and raised her hands in a manner. "Ara! I was just kidding," she giggled.

"I am a busy woman, Anh, that's why I don't tend to notice _everything_. And now I've declared her as my boyfriend to Haruka-san—" Shizuru paused mid-sentence when the consequences of her lying flashed through her mind. And in another uncharacteristic display, Shizuru threw her head back on the sofa and sighed in frustration. "I'm in big trouble, Anh. _Really _big trouble."

Anh blinked in confusion at what Shizuru said, and then her mouth formed a small 'O' in realization. "Ara…"

At that moment, Shizuru's office phone rang. The two women stared at the phone, then at each other.

Anh's brows arched in wonder. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking right now?" she asked.

Shizuru slowly stood up and neared her desk. "Yes, I think so, Anh."

"Don't answer it." Anh said with dread.

"No, I have to. If I avoid her now, sooner or later she will come and interrogate me as if I just killed someone," Shizuru said. "I need to explain everything to her."

She took a deep breath and tentatively picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"_Shizuru?" _a mature female voice spoke on the line. Shizuru felt her heart stop in dread. She glanced back at Anh, who looked terrified.

"Hello, mother," Shizuru uttered. Anh instantly slapped her forehead. Shizuru lowered the receiver and pressed a button to change the mode to loudspeaker.

"How are you, mother?" She tried as best as she could to sound casual and calm while Anh remained silent as the young brunette conversed with her mother.

"_Ara, I'm fine, Shizuru. Well, I shall get straight to the point now. I've just received a call from Haruka-chan. She said that you're dating someone now."_

Both brunettes gaped ungraciously wide at the statement. _That is so fast, Haruka-san, _Anh thought to herself and shook her head.

Shizuru swallowed the painful lump in her throat before speaking. "Ara, about that mother. There is something I need to tell you—" But before she could continue, her mother cut in.

"_I know that you're a private person, Shizuru, but I am definitely not happy to be the second person to know about this. Let's not discuss the details for now. Bring that man along for the family gathering when I come home in two months." _Her mother's voice was grim, which almost made the two brunettes shiver in fear.

"Just say you already broke up!" Anh whispered.

"Are you out of your mind?" Shizuru retorted in a low whisper. "I told Haruka-san that I'm newly dating Kuga-san and now you want me to tell mother that we broke up? It will be so obvious that I'm totally lying about it!"

"Well, duh? You _are _lying about this already!" Anh shrugged.

"_Shizuru! Are you there?" _Her mother's voice became a tad louder, snapping the brunettes out from their argument.

"Y-yes, mother. I'm here." Shizuru quickly responded.

"_Okay, I'll be back to Kyoto this summer. Make sure you bring this man with you. And what was it that you wanted to tell me?"_

Anh was furiously giving Shizuru the 'cut it out' sign so Shizuru would tell the elder Fujino the truth.

Shizuru's throat went dry. "Um…" she swallowed again, "…it's nothing. I will definitely bring him to the gathering, mother…" Shizuru blurted out helplessly, making Anh slap her forehead again in frustration.

"_Very well. We will discuss the details later on. I need to go now, Shizuru. I have a meeting. I'll see you in Kyoto." _

"Sorry for taking your time, mother. I'll see you in Kyoto."

_Click~_

And the line was off.

"Seriously?" Anh asked with exasperation in her voice.

Shizuru slowly slid into her chair behind her desk and clasped both hands together and sighed. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't help it! You know how scary my mother can be."

Anh shook her head and settled on the sofa, folding her arms across her chest. "Okay, just wait another few weeks and give your mother a call and tell her that you broke up with your _boyfriend._" She emphasized the word with her fingers.

"My mother isn't stupid, Anh. Besides, Haruka-san already met Kuga-san. Knowing my mother, she'll ask Haruka-san to track her down if I lie to her… again!" Shizuru pressed her fingers on her temple.

"You're not planning to take Kuga-san all the way to that gathering, right?" Anh asked out of curiosity.

Shizuru closed her eyes to calm her distressed mind. "What other option do I have?"

"Well… You can always tell her the truth." Anh said blatantly.

"She'll be disappointed, Anh. I don't want to make her unhappy."

Anh got up from the sofa and stood in front of Shizuru's desk and placed her palms on the wooden surface. "You know what? If you keep this up, I'm pretty sure that you're going to die earlier than your mother," she said as she stared into Shizuru's crimson orbs. Shizuru smiled faintly and Anh continued, "But I know I can't do anything to stop you from doing that. So when do you plan on asking Kuga-san about this 'fake boyfriend' thing?" She grinned mischievously.

"I don't think I could face her anytime now," Shizuru sighed. "It's just too embarrassing. I mistook her for a boy and you expect me to come to her and ask her if about this? I don't think she will be fond of the idea." _But seriously, when I think about it again, I wonder how I ever thought Kuga-san was a boy. _

Anh put a finger under her chin and pondered, "Well, just pay her for it. She's doing multiple jobs now. I'm pretty sure she's in need of money."

_Ara, I wonder how she knows so much about Kuga-san. _Shizuru unconsciously frowned, "How did you know that?"

"Well, last night she did the delivery from Kagutsuchi to your apartment. Then I saw her wearing your company's official cap as the courier." Anh said with a sly grin when she noticed Shizuru's frown. "Why, Shizuru? You sounded like a jealous girlfriend."

Shizuru arched a brow and produced an equally sly smile. "Why would I be jealous?"

_Like always, I can never tell what she's thinking with that smile… _"Just checking," Anh chuckled lightly.

Shaking her head in amusement, Shizuru giggled along. "Anyway, could you please do the favor?"

"You mean ask Kuga-san to do this 'fake boyfriend' thing?" Anh asked back. Shizuru nodded.

Anh's grin widened. "I'll be glad to do so." She winked.

* * *

Mai stared intensely at the raven-haired figure sitting at the counter munching on her seventh mayo sandwich.

"Seriously Natsuki, you'll gain 20 pounds just by eating these sandwiches, you know. And it's not even lunch hour yet. Did something happen?" Mai asked, resting her chin on her palm as she watched the young raven-haired girl finish up her sandwich.

"Nothing happened… I'm just hungry." Natsuki replied curtly and sipped her juice.

"Something definitely happened at your workplace. You look so bothered… and stop eating all the sandwiches! I'm keeping these for Mikoto!" Mai slapped Natsuki's hand and took away the plate from the blunette's reach.

Natsuki pouted when she saw Mai walk into the kitchen with the sandwiches. "Damn it, Mai! Since when does Mikoto eat mayo sandwiches?"

Mai went back to her annoyed friend and placed a plate of salad in front of the blunette. "Since now. And you need to finish up this salad to balance out all the greasy nonsense you just ate!"

"Can I get some mayo dressing too?" Natsuki gave the busty woman a bright smile and the best puppy eyes she could manage.

Mai placed her hands on her waist, staring at the blunette with an incredulous look. "Those eyes… _really_, Natsuki?"

Natsuki groaned and sighed in defeat. "Come on! I'm not a goat to eat all these greens! They're disgusting. Please give me some mayo? I need it to balance with my mood."

"Just stop being so ridiculous with your excuses! I'm not buying them! And if you don't finish up those greens, no more free lunch for you!" Mai barked, making her raven-haired friend recoil in fear.

Grumbling inwardly, Natsuki picked up her fork, stabbing at the salad in hatred. "Damn you, salad… Why can't you grow with more delicious flavors for me to eat?"

"Since when did you become an herbivore, mutt?" Natsuki felt a tap on her shoulder and saw a certain redhead grinning widely at her.

"Since Mary fucking Poppins possessed Mai. She took away my mayo sandwiches," Natsuki replied while munching on her salad in a painfully slow manner.

"Ara… Hello again, Kuga-san."

Natsuki froze. _What the—_

She snapped her head around and she swore she could hear a cracking sound on her neck. Her eyes met a pair of mischievous grey ones staring down at her intensely.

"W-what the hell are you doing here? What is she doing here, Nao?" Natsuki asked the redhead furiously while pointing at the aforementioned brunette.

"Chill out, Natsuki. Anh-sama comes here in peace…" Nao giggled when Natsuki shot her a death glare.

"Ara, Nao-san. Don't call me that when we're not in the office," Anh chuckled lightly as she watched Natsuki's enraged expression which she found incredibly adorable.

"Aye, aye!" Nao giggled, leaping on to a vacant stool next to the irritated navy-haired girl.

Natsuki still couldn't understand what was going on. She turned to face the red head and narrowed her emerald eyes.

Nao quirked one eyebrow as she sipped on Natsuki's drink. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Slowly leaning in, Natsuki whispered, "What is she doing here?"

"She wants to meet you," said Nao.

"Why?" Natsuki asked back.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? She asked me to take her to you," Nao retorted.

"Would you two please stop talking like I'm not here? You can ask me, Kuga-san, if you may," Anh suddenly interrupted with a bright smile on her face. Nao just giggled as shrugged her shoulders to a perplexed Natsuki.

_First Fujino-san, and now I have to deal with her stupid girlfriend? God, give me a break. _Letting out an exasperated sigh, Natsuki glared at the brunette. "What do you want?"

Anh quirked an eyebrow in surprise when Natsuki practically barked at her. "Ara. At least offer me a seat, Kuga-san. I've been standing here for approximately 5 minutes and 20 seconds now…"

"You can stand there for the next 50 years for all I care," Natsuki snorted and continued to eat her salad.

_Rude, but cute… _Anh smiled. "I see… Well, since I don't have much time because I have to fly back to Hokkaido…" she pulled the nearest chair available and graciously took a seat, "I have a proposition for you, Kuga-san."

Both Nao and Natsuki instantly turned to look at the brunette in surprise. "Proposition?" they asked in unison. Anh smiled as nodded.

"Is it money?" Nao asked expectantly. Natsuki instantly smacked her on the head, causing the red haired girl to grumble inwardly.

Anh giggled. "Pretty much. But I need Kuga-san to do me a favor…" and she giggled again when Nao and Natsuki looked at each other with 'wow' expressions on their faces. She slowly pulled out a cheque which she handed over to the blunette.

Natsuki examined the cheque and stared at the brunette again. "Are you serious? This is a blank cheque. What do you want me to do with this?"

Folding her arms, Anh smiled. "Well, after you're done with what I want you to do, you can ask me to write any number on that cheque…"

"Deal~!"

Both Natsuki and Anh turned to look at the excited redhead.

"I don't remember asking for your opinion, spider." Natsuki shot an incredulous look at Nao, who merely chuckled.

"So what do you say, Kuga-san?" Anh asked, as she eyed the younger woman before her from head to toe. Natsuki was in her casual attire; a black fitting t-shirt and worn out skinny jeans. Her biker boots made her appearance more intimidating, and not to mention, _sexy. _

Anh innocently stared at Natsuki's strong arms and curvaceous figure. _Ara… I am aware that she's such a cutie but with that kind of body—_

"Oi! Are you listening?"

Anh instantly snapped out of her unholy daydreaming. "Ara, I'm sorry. It must be because of the noise here. What was that again, Kuga-san?"

Nao arched a brow as she looked around the restaurant. It was hardly full since lunch was about an hour away and the only customers around were an old couple at the far corner.

"I said, what do you want me to do? You're not planning to ask me to kill someone, are you?" Natsuki eyed the brunette warily.

Anh instantly burst into laughter "No, I'm not going to ask you to kill someone, Kuga-san. What makes you think that?"

"Well you seem to be gladly offering to pay me with whatever amount I want. Other than killing someone, what kind of favor might grant me this kind of offer?" Natsuki curved up a small smile.

"You're thinking too much, Kuga-san. What I ask of you is pretty easy." Anh giggled.

"Yeah? Like what?"

Placing a finger under her chin, Anh smiled again. "What about pretending to be someone's boyfriend?"

* * *

There was silence inside the restaurant. Only soft jazz music was playing, filling the atmosphere with a calm and tranquil ambiance. But then...

"Bwahahahahaha~! Natsuhiko? What the hell?"

Natsuki was blushing so hard and her shoulders slumped in embarrassment. She had just finished telling Nao her story about what happened in Shizuru's office earlier that morning.

"You promised you wouldn't laugh, spider." Natsuki sighed in frustration as she rubbed her heated cheeks.

Nao was laughing so hard and started banging her fist on the counter. Luckily there were not so many customers otherwise Mai would've kicked them out of the restaurant.

Anh tried her best not to laugh. She placed a palm over her mouth to cover her grin.

Natsuki rolled her eyes in irritation. "Your boss just took me off guard! I had no choice but to play along. I don't know why she had to do that when she already has a girlfriend here. And why the hell do you need me to pretend as her boyfriend? You can do that yourself for all I care!" Natsuki said, infuriated, while gesturing to Anh.

Nao stopped laughing when Anh widened her eyes in total shock. An awkward silence quickly engulfed them, making Natsuki shift her gaze between the two women.

"What?" she barked when Nao and Anh stared at her.

"What do you mean, mutt?" Nao asked while frowning in confusion. Anh was stunned with Natsuki's statement so she simply stared at the navy haired girl and waited for her to explain further.

"This woman here! She's the one I met last night!" said Natsuki.

Nao and Anh turned to look at each other.

"You mean _she _was the one you met when you made that food delivery?" Nao asked back.

"Yeah! She's the one!"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Did I do something wrong?" Anh asked curiously while Nao had burst into laughter again.

"Oh my god, mutt! You totally got everything wrong!" Nao shook her head, snickering.

Natsuki frowned, "What?"

The red head took a deep breath, "Anh Lu-sama is the president of the northern branch of Fujino Conglomerate."

"So what?" Natsuki retorted.

"She's not my boss' girlfriend! I've known her for quite a while ever since working as Fujino's secretary." Nao giggled when she saw the drastic change in Natsuki's expression.

"W-what? You're not her girlfriend?" Natsuki asked the dumbfounded brunette blatantly.

"Um… Come again? I'm sorry but I don't know what you two are talking about. Though I can assure you that I'm not anyone's girlfriend in one way or another." Anh smiled in amusement.

Natsuki groaned and buried her face into her hands. "Oh my god… This is so embarrassing. Why didn't you tell me about this, spider?"

"You didn't elaborate on how you met Anh-sama last night! How the hell was I supposed to know it had been her?" Nao retorted furiously.

"Ara-ara. No fighting," Anh quickly waved her hands to stop the two girls from bickering. "Kuga-san, I am wondering how you ever thought I was Shizuru's girlfriend."

Natsuki took a deep breath and sighed. "I don't know… I just assumed. And last night, you did call Fujino-san 'Shizuru-honey'…"

Anh arched her brows, "Ara, doesn't everyone do that? Shizuru and I are friends. It's normal. Both of you are good friends, right? I'm sure you two always say things like that to each other…"

_No! We do not call each other 'honey' and we never will in a zillion years! It's fucking gross! _Natsuki and Nao were having the same thoughts as they stared at each other incredulously.

"Hahaha~ I'm surprised with how you can come up with things like that, Kuga-san." Anh giggled again, much louder this time.

Natsuki smiled awkwardly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. And I think you have the wrong impression of Shizuru," Anh scratched her cheek slightly. "Thinking that she has a girlfriend really amuses me."

Natsuki started to frown again. "Why?"

Anh chuckled and folded her arms across her chest. "Because she's not even gay."

* * *

**Okay! Review anyone? Heheheheheh~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay. First of all, I want to apologize for taking one whole month to finish up this chapter. Sorry!**

**Enjoy with the reading, yes?**

**Disclaimer: Mai-Hime is certainly not mine!**

* * *

**You Don't Know My Name**

**Chapter 5**

_Have you ever experienced an unfulfilled sex? The one when you're in the middle of savoring the feeling to reach for a climax and then all of sudden, your mom yelled from downstairs; _

"_STOP PLAYING BASKETBALL INSIDE THE HOUSE!" _

_Yeah. She thought that the 'banging' sound was me playing basketball inside my room. _

_How awesome my mom is. _

_Anyway, I'm talking about that kind of feeling, but much-much worse than that. It's more like when you're in the middle of having sex and your partner by chance farted right into your face._

_Yes. That one. _

_The major turn off. Total mood-spoiler and it's so fucking pissing you off to the point where you want to extend your arm, bitch-slap the motherfucker upside the head and set his ass on fire… _

_That was pretty much an overall picture of what I think Natsuki is having inside her mind right now. _

_Well… she's having a crush towards someone – constantly thinking about her day and night and all of sudden, _

"_She's not even gay."_

_Ugh! I don't even know what I'm going to do if I ever face that kind of situation. I mean, I'm sure I will be pissed off, so angry that if you slit my throat, your eyes will get a shot of searing and boiling blood. _

_Yes. That kind of angry. So beware._

_Back to the main topic…_

_Natsuki just found out that her crush, or would be much better if I called her Miss Fujino –I'm not gay- Shizuru, is not swinging that way! So, what's the point she's savoring her wonderful feeling towards her while that woman will never-ever reciprocate!_

_What a cruel world indeed._

_Therefore, I as her utmost best friend has decided to do something to help her out…_

_Well… kind of._

_

* * *

_

They stared at the sulking raven-haired girl who had been in the same position for almost 2 hours. Mai sighed exasperatingly as she gave the blunette comforting pats on the shoulder.

"Seriously… I wonder why we never give a damn about this crucial matter before… This is so unexpected…" one short haired woman broke the silence after few moments of tranquility between them inside that empty restaurant. It was already past midnight. The three girls were sitting around the table, staring incessantly to a certain raven-haired girl who constantly sighing from time to time.

"It never crossed your mind before, Natsuki…?" Mai asked, while stroking Natsuki's hair in a comforting gesture. Natsuki just sighed, shaking her head.

"Come to think of it… if Fujino was gay, I should be the one who would notice it first…" Nao said nonchalantly while polishing her nails.

"Why?" Chie asked back, frowning slightly.

Nao cocked an eyebrow while grinning, "Hell~o? I'm her _sizzling_ hot secretary! Don't you think she would definitely go down for _this_ if she was gay?" she giggled while motioning to her body.

Chie instantly snorted to the statement while Mai and Natsuki shot the redhead a death glare.

"It's not funny, spider." Natsuki sighed again, slowly burying her face into her arms. Nao was about to laugh again, but she quickly silenced herself when Mai shot a 'You better be quiet or I will kick your ass' glare.

Clearing her throat, Nao spoke, "So… are you going to work tomorrow…?"

Slowly tilting her head up, Natsuki stared at the redhead as she replied, "About that…" she paused, "I was about to ask for your help… Could you arrange for a day off for me…?"

Nodding her head, Nao smiled, "I think I could do that… you never take a day off ever since you're working with Fujino…"

Hearing the name, Natsuki unconsciously flinched. Deciding to let it out of her head, she slowly got off her chair. Natsuki put on her jacket and picked up the helmet on the floor. "I should go home now… I've promised Alyssa that I'll get home as soon as I finished my work."

As she walked to the door, her friends were staring at the retreating figure to the exit. Mai turned to look at the short haired girl beside her with a concerned stare. Chie just clamped her mouth while shrugging her shoulder.

"See you guys tomorrow…" and the blunette left, leaving her three friends sat around the table in silence.

"Wow… she really is devastated… I never saw her like that before…" Chie uttered calmly, stroking her short dark hair.

"About the thing Natsuki said earlier, pretending to be Fujino-san's boyfriend or something… is it true?" Mai asked the red head.

Nao simply nodded. "It's true. Fujino's friend was the one who gave the proposition to Natsuki, and I was with her that time…"

"What's her decision then? She would take that job, right? We're talking about a blank cheque which you can fill with any amount of money you could think of… If it was me, I would definitely dig it!" Chie said with a grin.

"We're not talking about money here, Chie… It's about feelings, Natsuki's pride and her dignity… Can you imagine how things going to turn out if this 'fake boyfriend' didn't work? Not to mention that you have to _pretend _to be someone's boyfriend while you have to keep your own feelings at bay…" Mai said while fiddling her hair that poked out on her forehead.

"So, she didn't take it?" Chie turned and asked the red head again.

Nao sighed exasperatingly as she put down her nail polisher. "How the hell am I supposed to know, Harada? Why don't you ask her yourself!"

Chie frowned furiously, "I'm asking _you_ because _you're_ practically with her from 9 to 5, Yuuki… and _you're_ with her when this proposition thing happened! Do I really need to explain that!" she barked.

Nao giggled slightly to Chie's annoyed face, "Hahaha~ you look so terrible when you're mad. Anyway, I think she won't take it."

"Why?" both Mai and Chie asked in the same time.

"You two sure are full with questions tonight, aren't ya?" Nao chuckled and she shook her head.

"We're just curious… Besides, I really want to know this woman who had swept my dear friend off her feet…" Mai said with laughter.

"Yeah! We barely hear Natsuki talk about other people, let alone a woman! Always talking about bikes and her family… Last time I heard she said she was in love with Aya-chan and it was a DOG!" Chie added. The other two women quickly burst into fits of giggle.

Nao took a deep breath after a long run of laughs she had. "I'm not sure about this, and I don't know the reason either but I think mutt will never take the offer… She won't do it."

Both Mai and Chie turned to look at each other. They stayed in silence for a good few minutes.

"Is your boss some kind of fugly, fat chick?" Chie suddenly spoke, causing her other two friends to snap up their head and stared at her.

Almost slipping out a giggle, Nao tried her best to suppress the laughter. "Why the hell would you think that, Harada! Oh my god!" her head already had this mental picture of an ugly, fat brunette executive.

"That's the only reason Natsuki would reject the proposition. I without a doubt would do the same thing if it happened to me." Chie said while shrugging her shoulder.

Mai was laughing so hard that her eyes were teary. "Okay, Chie-chan… Firstly, I would like to oppose that! Natsuki is in love with Nao-chan's boss! IN LOVE! And you think this Fujino is ugly! Natsuki got _wayyyy_ better taste in women, you know?"

Chie arched her brows mischievously. "Oh, _really_? I don't think so, Tokiha Mai-kun… Last time I checked, she got zero. She didn't even know how to appreciate the best thing God ever created!" Chie said while waving her hands dramatically.

"You see, there was a time I hang out at her workshop while waiting for her to fix my car. I told her about this girl I had a night with, and then she asked me; _'You know what more curvier than this girl you slept with? A race track." _

Nao and Mai burst into a laugh again, much louder this time.

"And later she told me the whole damn story about her dreams to race along Valentino Rossi… and I don't even know who the hell Valentino Rossi is!" Chie ended her dramatic story telling with a heavy sigh while her other two friends were laughing so hard, they shook the table.

"I know that sometimes Natsuki could be so clueless about this stuff…" Mai said after her laughs subsided. "But I do believe that when it comes to something… or someone that she loves and cares about, she really means it. I don't think looks really matter to her…"

"I second that." Nao added, "Even though it's killing me to say it…"

Chie slowly relaxed on her chair as she folded her arms. "Maybe I don't know her much as you guys do…" she curved up a small smile, earning soft chuckles from her friends.

"But, really… I thought you two already met my boss…" Nao said as she rested her arms on the table.

Mai and Chie turned to look at each other then they stared at the red head again.

"No, we didn't." Chie grinned. "And since you're working with her, have you seen her with a man?"

Nao blinked a few times. "A lot."

"She means with a _man_, Nao-chan. Someone she dates…" Mai added.

"Not really… and I'm not sure. Not like I want to know everything about that woman anyway…" Nao replied nonchalantly. "But I think she has a soft spot with women… as far as I saw when she was dealing with a few female business clients."

Both Chie and Mai turned to look at each other, and then they grinned. "Ooohh… I saw some light here… What do you mean with this 'soft spot'?" Chie asked excitedly.

Nao blinked again. "I don't know… she smiled a lot, and she seemed comfortable compared when she was dealing with some male clients. She acted casual, less talking and just straight with the business."

"She's gay." Chie suddenly concluded.

"Come on, Harada… Just because she's comfortable with women, it doesn't make her gay!" Nao rolled her eyes.

"Well… there's always a way to find that out…" said Mai. Her friends quickly turned to look at the orange head.

"Oohh… I know that look! You got something in your head, right? Come on! Spill it!" Chie laughed as she shook the girl's shoulder.

"Why don't we go see her? Then we will know what kind of person Natsuki head over heel for!" Mai said as she clasped her hands excitedly.

"That's a great idea, Mai-kun… Nao! You better arrange us some time to meet this Fujino Shizuru! We must investigate her to the very core!" Chie said, pumping her fist up to the air.

Sighing exasperatingly, Nao shot the short haired girl a boring glare. "Who the hell you think you are, Harada! The owner of multi-billion porno business? You're a damn photographer, for crying out loud! Give me ten reasons why I need to arrange a meeting for you?"

Scratching her chin slightly, Chie stared up the ceiling as she pondered. "One, because I'm the _almighty_ Harada Chie. Two, because I'm awesome. Three, because I'm so hot that it would melt the largest iceberg in North Pole, and I might cause the global warming…" and she laughed when Nao glared at her furiously. "I'll stop right here so you won't get too overwhelmed with my hotness…"

"No, seriously, Nao-chan… You're Fujino-san's secretary. I'm pretty sure you know every single activity she has for a day. You just tell us where she will be going, and we will stalk her!" said Mai.

"Stalk! Like I'm going to let you guys _stalk_ my boss! If she finds out about it, my career will be ruined!" Nao barked angrily. She just couldn't believe that her friends would come out with such a ridiculous idea.

"Oh, come on! We're doing this for Natsuki… It's for a good cause!" Chie grinned widely.

"Yes! Besides, we're going to make sure whether this Fujino Shizuru is really straight or gay! No one ever miss from Chie's super-gaydar!" Mai giggled as she gave the aforementioned girl pats on the shoulder.

"Yeah! Ooh… we're going to be like a private investigator, Mai-kun! This is going to be fun!" Chie chuckled as she high-fived the orange haired girl.

Nao just shook clutched her head in frustration, "Whatever… I'll tell you guys her schedule for tomorrow and if mutt ever found out about this, don't even dare to tag my name along with you guys! I don't want to have anything to do with this!"

* * *

_Next day – Lunch Hour_

They stared at the blonde haired figure who sat right across the table.

"Anyway…" Mai placed down her cup after taking a sip, "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked the blonde, arching up one eyebrow questioningly.

Chie folded her arms while staring at the blonde woman with a wide grin on her face, "As far as I remember, yesterday you said you don't want to have anything to do with our plan… What's changed now?"

The aforementioned woman who had a pair of large sunglasses, concealing her eyes from public's view was seemed to be a little anxious on her seat. She kept fixing her blonde hair as she looked around the fancy restaurant with curious eyes. She didn't even bother to answer any question from the other two women on that table.

"And what's with this blonde wig that you're wearing! It looks awful on you!" Chie reached out her hand to touch the wig, but she was quickly being slapped away by the blonde.

"You can't touch this, Harada! It took me the whole this morning to find something to completely camouflage my beauty from my boss' sharp eyes…" Nao lowered her sunglasses, staring at the short haired woman with a sly grin on her lips. Chie chuckled lightly as she shook her head.

"I thought you didn't want to join us, Nao-chan…" Mai leaned on her chair comfortably. "You're just as excited like us, right? Admit it."

Nao just arched her brows mischievously. "Yeah, _right_. Sure I am… and what the hell she's doing here anyway?" she asked as she pointed at the spiky haired girl next to her who was enjoying her banana split.

"Mikoto overheard me and Chie talking last night… She said she needs to be here so she could protect me from harm…" Mai chuckled as she scuffed Mikoto's head.

"Hmm-hmm!" Mikoto nodded her head a few times happily.

Nao just rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you actually bought that! All she wants is to be here and eat everything that listed on the menu… And who's going to pay for that! This place is freakin' expensive, you know!"

"Don't worry… I already got that covered. Anyway, where is this Fujino! I've been sitting here for 10 minutes now and my ass is killing me…" Chie sounded annoyed as she looked around the area. The restaurant was filled with a bunch of middle aged business people and families.

_No cute girls and not even the waitress could give my eyes some candy… _She started to get bored. As she glanced around, her eyes quickly spotted a brunette haired woman who graciously walked into the restaurant and headed to the waiter, who was waiting near the entrance.

"Oh-oh, guys. Turn around, 12 o' clock." Chie said and the other girls quickly turned their head to the mentioned direction. "Finally! I thought this place is extinct of cute girls~"

"That's her!" Nao suddenly interrupted Chie's words. The short haired girl widened her eyes while gaping widely when she heard it.

"T-that's Fujino? Your boss?" Chie whispered to the 'blonde' red head. Nao nodded her head in affirmation.

Mai was too gaping as she quickly averted her eyes before she would be caught staring at the brunette. "No wonder Natsuki was so into her! She's beautiful…"

"That's not beautiful, Tokiha! That woman is the new definition of beautiful herself! God! Now I think I have to bow down to Natsuki… she's surely got a great taste in women…" Chie grinned as she sneakily took a glance at the brunette who was slowly walked towards the reserved table. It was only two tables away from theirs. There were two other people already waiting at the table, which Mai and Chie assumed them as Shizuru's clients.

"Okay, Chie-chan. Switch on your gaydar now… What do you think?" Mai leaned in closer to the short haired girl while Chie slowly fixed her spectacles. They tried not to look so obvious as they sneakily watched every single movement and expression on the brunette's face.

"She dressed well… nothing over the top, very elegant…" Chie started to list down. "Nice ass… with awesomely shaped boobs to perfection…" she said as she eyed the brunette from head to toe with hungry eyes.

"Damn, Harada! We asked you to look whether she's gay or not… Not _checking_ her out!" Nao whispered in low, angry voice.

Shaking her head as she chuckled, Chie took off her spectacles, and she placed it on the table. "Hahaha~ Sorry… I can't help it. Anyway, she's casual to both man and woman… Damn! She's so hard to read…"

Sighing inwardly, Nao slowly took a scoop from Mikoto's banana split. "I've told you… she's always like that with everyone… You'll never know what is in her mind…" she ate the ice-cream.

"But there's must be a little crack where I can see through! Everybody has that!" Chie narrowed her eyes to the brunette who was now enjoying the appetizer.

"I don't think you can figure out her sexuality just by watching, Chie-chan… We need to do something and see how she will react to that…" Mai suggested.

Nao arched one brow, "Oh, really? Like what?"

Mai smiled as she reached out her hand to the short haired girl. "Chie-chan, hold my hand and act lovey-dovey with me!"

Nao rolled her eyes in frustration. "That is so lame… Just holding hands!"

"You got a better idea, Nao-chan?" Mai shot a boring glare at the red head. Nao stared at her friends back and forth then she looked at the spiky haired girl beside her. She grinned.

"Hey Mikoto…"

Mikoto blinked her large golden eyes as she swallowed another scoop of ice cream. "Hm?"

Leaning in closer to the other girl, Nao smiled seductively. "You got some ice cream here…" she pointed at the white cream on Mikoto's lower lips.

"Oh?" Mikoto was about to wipe it off but Nao quickly grabbed her hand. The spiky haired girl blinked her eyes questioningly to the red head.

"I'll help you out…" her voice came out like a whisper as she tilted Mikoto's chin up and she licked the white cream on Mikoto's lips in a slow, seductive way.

The red head daring act made a few male customers in that restaurant burst out blood from their nose.

Mai was gaping speechlessly when she saw it while Chie went wide eyed. _Oh, damn! I almost forgot… _She quickly shifted her gaze to look at the brunette haired girl who was watching the whole scene.

There was a slight change on Shizuru's face when she saw Nao licking Mikoto's lips, and it didn't go unnoticed by Chie's eyes. It was brief and Chie found Shizuru went back to her casual mode in a split second. _What the~ she didn't seem to be overly shock and didn't look like she enjoyed it either… _

"There! You should do like this if you want to get a reaction from someone, Tokiha…" Nao ran a thumb on her lips after she was done the licking with a certain spiky haired girl.

"You certainly got a reaction from _someone_, Nao…" Chie chuckled as she motioned at the fuming orange haired girl beside her. Mai's face was red due to holding up her intensifying anger.

"Do you really have to do that?" Mai's voice was low as she tried not to yell to the red head.

Nao grinned widely. "Oh, come on! Don't get jealous… I was just trying to show you an example!"

"Example! Like licking my girlfriend right before my eyes, and you call it as an example!"

"Well… yes. And Mikoto seems to enjoy it too…" Nao giggled while Mikoto blinked in surprise. She innocently licked her lips where Nao had her tongue on just now, and it has fueled more fire in Mai's head.

"Urgh! I'm outta here!" the orange head banged her palms on the table, and she stormed out the restaurant furiously.

"Mai!" Mikoto quickly jumped off her chair, and she chased the older girl, leaving the other two girls on the table. The ruckus instantly gained quite an attention from other customers.

"Geez… did she really have to get jealous like that?" Nao folded her arms, feeling annoyed.

"What do you think? You _licked _her girlfriend, moron!" Chie sighed, pinching her temple softly. "I'm out too… these people are staring at us like we're naked here…" she slowly pushed her chair backward.

"Yeah… this plan sucks! I want to go back to my office and this stupid wig is starting to annoy me now…" Nao said as she scratched her head slightly. After paying the bills, they left the restaurant, walking along the pedestrian path that led to the parking lot.

Chie laughed. "Oh well… I didn't get anything anyway. So much for our plan to discover whether your boss is gay or not…"

"I've told you that this is pointless! And don't ever tell mutt about this, Harada. If not, we're dead…" Nao reminded the other girl.

"Don't worry… This thing will go down to the grave together with me…" Chie sighed. "But, I feel sorry for Natsuki. Hope she could get over this Fujino quickly. Kinda miss the time when she was all happy and having fun with us…"

Nao just remained silent as she stared up the bright sky.

"Yeah. Me too."

* * *

After having her lunch, she went back to the office to prepare the documents. Tapping the tip of her pen on the table, she occasionally would glance out her office, looking around the area. From her office, she could see a certain red head was busy typing on the keyboard.

_Where is she? _She could feel her stomach started to clench nervously. She didn't know why. It occurred earlier this morning when she couldn't find a Ducati which supposed to park right outside the building.

Sighing, Shizuru slowly placed down the pen, and she got off the chair. She walked towards the window pane and gazed out a blank stare to the vast scenery of Fuuka City.

_Anh said that she didn't accept nor rejects the proposition that I made… Is it because of what happened yesterday? Ara. I thought I was going to apologize today, but she didn't come to work…_

Shizuru slowly looked outside the office at where Nao's desk was. _I think I should ask Yuuki-san about her… She might know where her friend is…_

Walking out her office, she approached the preoccupied red head who was still in the middle of finishing her report.

"Yuuki-san…?"

"What!" the unexpected and harsh retort made the brunette arched her brows in surprise.

"Ara?"

Nao blinked as she quickly ripped her eyes off the monitor only to find a certain brunette haired executive was standing in front her desk, wearing this mildly surprise expression on her face.

_Oh crap._

Quickly standing up from her chair, Nao bowed down a few times. "I-I'm so sorry, Fujino-sama… I was too preoccupied… I didn't mean to snap at you…"

Chuckling at Nao's flustered face, Shizuru waved her hand slightly to stop the red head from bowing again. "Ara… It's okay. It's good to see you're so focused on your work, Yuuki-san."

_It's because I've got tons of work unfinished, and I don't want you to hunt my ass later for not finishing my job…_ "I-is there anything I can do for you?" Nao slowly calmed herself as she watched the composed façade before her.

Shizuru smiled softly. "Ara, yes. I was about to ask you about Kuga-san. I'm wondering why is she absent today… or maybe she's off to deliver something and hasn't gotten back here yet?" she asked as she looked around Nao's working space. She placed a hand atop the chair where she often saw Natsuki sat on after she was done with her delivery.

"Ah… I forgot to inform you about this, Fujino-sama. Natsuki took a day off." Nao scratched her cheek sheepishly.

"Ara? Is she sick?" the brunette asked, unaware of her voice was a tad concern.

Nao raised her brows slightly when she saw Shizuru's unusual expression. "Um, kind of. She was tired, that's all. She'll be back for work tomorrow…"

Shizuru pondered momentarily. _Anh once said that Kuga-san is in need of money, and she's doing multiple jobs… probably that's the reason she's sick today. She's been working so hard that she hardly has a rest…_

"Um… Fujino-sama?" Nao tilted her head slightly to look at the brunette who was so lost in her own thought.

Blinking her bright crimson eyes, Shizuru quickly snapped out from her thought, and she saw Nao was staring at her curiously. "Ara… I'm sorry. I was thinking of something. Anyway, send my regards to Kuga-san if you visit her…" she smiled and pivoted on her feet to walk back into her office.

"And um…tell her don't force herself to come to work tomorrow if she's still ill… I'll let someone do the delivery for her…" Shizuru said while standing in front her office door.

"Okay, Fujino-sama… I'll tell her that." Nao nodded. Shizuru curved up a small smile, and she stepped into her office, closing the door behind her.

Walking back to her chair, Shizuru felt like a huge boulder had been lifted off her shoulders, and she felt so relax. She smiled inwardly, resting her head on her seat and stared up at the empty ceiling.

_I will apologize to her tomorrow…_

_

* * *

_

_The next morning._

Like usual, every morning she would ride her bike all the way to Kagutsuchi to grab her breakfast before she went to work, but today, one bizarre occurrence happened. Natsuki found herself staring at the large sticker that pasted on the restaurant door which stated in a bold, bright red font;

'YUUKI NAO IS NOT ALLOWED TO BE IN THIS RESTAURANT!'

And there was even a comic illustration of a certain red head being bashed by a huge hammer right below the words. Natsuki twitched her brows in confusion. "What the hell is this?" she reached out her hand to peel off the sticker.

"Don't do it, mutt… or you'll also be banished from this restaurant…" a voice came from behind and Natsuki quickly spun around. Nao was standing right behind her with a gloomy expression on her face.

"What's with this sticker, spider? What did you do?" Natsuki pulled her hand away from the sticker. Nao sighed heavily as she leaned on Natsuki's bike, which parked near the door.

"It was a small matter and that Tokiha just took it too damn seriously…" Nao said lazily.

Natsuki arched her brows slightly. "Mai would never get this angry… _unless_ you had done something terribly stupid enough to trigger her anger this much… Did you set her kitchen into fire?"

Nao twitched her brows furiously. "Are you stupid? If I set her kitchen into a fire, do you really think I would be here outside her restaurant right now! And why would I do that in the first place?"

"I don't know. It just crossed my mind. Anyway, what happened? Why would Mai get angry with you…?" Natsuki stood in front the red head, folding her arms across her chest.

_If I told her that we're stalking Fujino yesterday, I'm sure my ass would be the next thing on fire… _Nao sighed. "I don't want to tell you…"

Natsuki rolled her eyes in frustration. "Fine. I don't care anyway. I want to grab some breakfast… you want anything?"

"Yes. Please tell Mai that I'm sorry for licking Mikoto~ Shit!" Nao quickly cupped her mouth after she slipped the words she told herself not to tell Natsuki. The blunette widened her eyes in an instant.

"W-what! You licked Mikoto?" Natsuki almost yelled. "Did you sleep with her?"

Nap sighed exasperatingly as she slapped her forehead. "I _didn't_ sleep with her, mutt. But I licked her… not that 'lick' but _lick." _

"But why?" asked Natsuki.

"Like I said, I don't wanna tell you!" Nao said sternly.

_What the hell…? _Natsuki blinked her eyes a few times, trying to understand the whole situation. "Okay. You're grossing me out. I don't want to get involve with this _licking _thing. You're the one who did the lick and you're the one who need to deal with Mai. See ya at the office, spider~"

"W-wha~ Wait, Kuga!" Nao tried to stop her friend but Natsuki quickly got into the restaurant, leaving Nao scratching her head frustratingly. "At least help me out with talking to Mai about this… Damn that mutt…" Nao muttered breathlessly as she walked away.

* * *

It was quiet inside the restaurant. Fairly full, much to Natsuki's interest. The raven-haired girl slowly strode to the counter where she found her orange head friend, serving breakfast to a few customers.

"Good morning, Natsuki…" Mai greeted in monotone voice, not looking at her curious friend.

Natsuki curved up a small smile. _She always said that she wasn't a type of girl who would go all jealous in the relationship… _She could see her friend was somewhat sulky, not like her cheery mood days before. "Good morning, Mai… Where's Mikoto?"

"I don't know, and I don't care." A quick retort from the orange head made Natsuki arched her brows slightly in surprise. Mai continued to clean the dishes, ignoring her friend while Natsuki stared at her intently.

_Whoa… She really is pissed off with both Mikoto and Nao… Oh god. Just one day I didn't meet them and something like this already happened? _ Natsuki shook her head as she snickered.

Noticing the smirk that plastered across Natsuki's face, Mai scowled. "What's so funny?"

"You." Natsuki cocked one brow, grinning mischievously.

"Why?" Mai tilted her chin up, arching one brow while her face displayed a mild amusement when she saw Natsuki chuckled again.

"Nao said, _'I'm sorry for licking Mikoto.' _You wanna tell me the whole story behind that licking thing?" Natsuki reached out her hand for her cup of coffee after Mai settled it on the counter.

Mai paused momentarily. _Crap. If I told her that we went stalking Fujino-san yesterday in that fancy restaurant, I'm sure Natsuki will get angry with me…_

"No." she replied curtly.

"Okay! I'm pretty sure now that both you and Nao are secretly keeping something from me! What the hell is going on with you two?" Natsuki barked.

"I-I'm going back to the kitchen…" Mai quickly dashed into the kitchen.

"O-OI! Mai!" Natsuki was about to snap at the orange head when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey, easy there, buddy… What's going on?" Chie asked, pulling one chair to sit next to the enraged blunette.

Sighing, Natsuki stroked her silky hair. "What's going on with Mai and Nao? They're keeping something from me! When I asked them, they didn't want to tell."

Chie flinched slightly. _Holy crap! Better get out of here before she~ _

"Do you know anything, Chie?"

_Just great. _Chie could feel her heart started to thump wildly inside her chest. She slowly spun around, ready to sprint to the exit door.

"No. I don't know, Natsuki. See ya later!" she leaped off her chair but something was tugging on her collar, pulling her down on her seat again. Chie slowly tilted her head to look at her friend. A menacing glint was sparked inside the luminous emerald orbs before her.

Natsuki stared down at the short haired girl while clenching on the collar tightly. "You know something, don't you?"

_Oh my god… Those eyes! _Chie could feel like her trauma came back to haunt her. The scene where she was punched by Natsuki because she flirted with that blunette when they first met quickly flashed inside her brain.

"We certainly did not stalk Fujino-san!" Chie blurted it out in panic.

Natsuki went jaw-dropped. "What?"

Chie blinked her eyes a few times, slowly recalling words that came out her mouth just now. _Oh shit! _Her face changed drastically. "Oh… Fuck no…" her shoulders slumped in defeat as she groaned.

"Oh, fuck yes. You just said it! You guys went out to stalk Fujino-san! Why did you guys do that!" Natsuki just couldn't believe with what she heard.

Sighing heavily, Chie rubbed her face with her sweaty palms, calming herself down. "We're just curious, Natsuki… We didn't do anything. We just went to a restaurant where she had a meeting with her clients, and we tried to figure out whether she's really straight or gay…"

"Yeah? You guys tried to figure out like doing what? Having a heart to heart conversation with her?" Natsuki shook her head, disappointed.

Chie pursed her lips, watching in silence when she saw Natsuki's upset face. "Sorry…"

Inhaling deeply, Natsuki stared at the short haired girl. "This is what I called intruding on someone's personal matter…" she scratched her cheek.

"…but anyway, did you find anything?" Natsuki suddenly grinned.

Chie arched her brows in surprise, and then she laughed. "Damn! You should stop doing that, Natsuki! You scared me to death! I really thought that you're angry with us!"

Natsuki laughed heartily. "Damn right! I'm mad with you guys! You should at least give me a heads up…" they shared laugh.

"We never thought that you might agree with that idea…" Chie grinned sheepishly.

"Next time, do tell." Natsuki patted her friend's shoulder. "Anyway, spare me no detail now. What happened yesterday? What did you find out about Fujino-san?"

Chie flashed a wide mischievous grin. "You, my friend. I'm so impressed! I never thought that Fujino-san is such a knock-out!"

Blushing slightly, Natsuki rubbed her nose. "Yeah… she's beautiful right?"

"Hell yeah. She's damn beautiful… but," Chie took a deep breath, watching Natsuki's excited expression. "…you should give up on her."

Natsuki stared at Chie's concerned look. Her face slowly changed as she stared at the counter's shining marble surface. She sighed and smiled faintly to her friend.

"I see." Natsuki could feel her throat started to dry. "I-I'm working on it now… Don't worry!"

Chie nodded as she patted the girl's shoulder. "I can understand why you're so fascinated by her. She's the woman you can simply describe with any words from the Dictionary of Awesomeness. Maybe it's just a crush, Natsuki."

"I'm not sure about that. I never feel this way before… I-it's crazy. She's all I'm thinking of, and it's really tiring…" Natsuki slowly closed her eyes, resting her chin atop her palm.

"I wish I could put an end to this… It's wearing me out just by thinking that I could never have a chance with her. And to see her every day… it's like standing right in front of her, so close but then, there will be a giant iron robot who will punch me in the face and say, 'She's not gay! Back off, loser!"

Chie snorted and she burst into a laugh instantly. "That's hurt."

Natsuki just grinned. "Hell yeah."

They stayed in silence as the restaurant slowly filled with customers. It had been a while since they sat in that restaurant and they hadn't have anything for breakfast yet. After they ordered their respective beverage, they sat quietly, waiting.

"But I've been doing some thinking all night yesterday… I think I found a solution for it." Natsuki said, breaking the silence between them. A waitress came and served two cups of coffee to them.

"Really? Like what?" Chie reached out her hand for a few sachets of sugar, slowly tearing the package and poured it into her cup.

"I'll take the proposition Fujino-san asked me… Then I'll demand some money where I can use it to move somewhere outside this town and start my own workshop." Natsuki slowly sipped on her coffee. Chie listened in silence as she drank from her cup.

"I don't have to work for her, see her and tormenting myself anymore. I'm sure that being away from Fujino-san would be the best solution. I can start over and focusing on my life this time… Alyssa is growing up every day, and she needs someone who can guide her throughout the process… If I couldn't get myself together and do my job as a sister, she didn't have anyone else in this world… I cannot simply sit around, wondering and wishing for something impossible to happen…" Natsuki sighed.

Chie nodded her head a few times. "I understand the whole plan of yours, but about moving from this town, I'm not really fond with that idea…"

"Why not?" Natsuki arched her brows.

"Hell! You're going to leave us here! There's no freaking way I'm going to allow that! I'm sure Mai and Nao will disagree!" Chie barked and Natsuki laughed.

"You guys can always visit us~"

"NO~! Hell no! You, Nao, Mai and myself, we're the _Awesome Foursome_! If you left this town, there'll be only _Awesome Threesome!_ Where's the fun with that!" said Chie, causing a few people inside that café to turn and looked at them intriguingly when they heard the _suggestive_ word 'threesome'.

"Okay! Okay! I get it! Stop saying the 'threesome' word! You're embarrassing me!" Natsuki snickered. "It's just a plan, dammit!"

Chie quickly grinned. "I know you won't leave us… Oh my _darling_, Natsuki!" she made an attempt to hug the blunette but Natsuki roughly shoved the short haired girl away, shivering in disgust. She jumped off her chair and picked up her helmet.

"Okay. You know what? I will definitely move out of this town! See ya, Harada!" Natsuki said, chuckling as she quickly dashed out the restaurant.

Chie just giggled, watching her friend slowly maneuvering her metallic bike to the main road.

"All the best to you, my friend…"

* * *

She stepped out the elevator, rummaging her handbag for car keys. Her BMW was parked right outside the building, inside the reserved parking lot. Getting into her car, she inserted the key into the ignition, trying to start the engine.

"Ara?" Shizuru blinked her eyes when her car didn't even make a revving sound. She tried again, but her car remained silent. She started to panic.

"No… Not now! I have a meeting in just…" she peered at her wrist watch. It was already 9.35 a.m and she would have a meeting at 10. "Ara? 25 minutes left!"

She quickly got off her car after she pressed a button to open the car hood. She stood right before the metallic vehicle, staring blankly at the engine.

_Okay. Now what? Earlier this morning you're just fine, and now you want to give me a trouble?_

"Is there something wrong, Fujino-sama?" a voice came from behind her and she quickly spun around. A middle aged security guard was standing there, looking at her in concern.

"Ah, Yamazaki-ojisan… I don't know what happen but my car doesn't start…" Shizuru flashed a warm smile to the old man as he walked to the car, peering at the engine.

"But I saw you came to the office earlier this morning. I didn't see anything wrong with your car that time…" he took off his hat, and he scratched his balding head.

"Yes, I thought about that too… Can you please take a look? I'm not so familiar with engines…" Shizuru asked, smiling apologetically.

Yamazaki gave the young brunette a smile as he scratched his head again. "I'm sorry, Fujino-sama… I wish I could help you, but I'm too not familiar with cars… You know that I just ride a moped to work…"

_Oh no… Kami-sama~ _Shizuru could feel like a huge hammer bashing on her head right now. "Ara? Is that so…"

"Don't worry, Fujino-sama. I will call someone inside if there's anyone who knows how to fix this~" he was about to walk into the building when a roaring engine sound came from the main gate, approaching the parking lot for bikes.

Shizuru widened her eyes slightly when she saw a figure, clad with leather jacket and dark helmet, straddling a stunning midnight blue Ducati. _It's her!_

"Just in time! Natsuki-chan!" Yamazaki jogged to the newly-arrived biker.

The aforementioned biker took off the helmet, her silky dark hair cascading down to her shoulder, giving a quite enchanted scene to the brunette. Shizuru found herself staring at the raven-haired figure who was now talking with Yamazaki. She only averted her gaze when a pair of forest green orbs staring directly into hers. _Ara-ara... Did I just stare at her? _

"Did you try anything, oji-san?" Natsuki dismounted her bike, placing the helmet atop the seat and she started to walk to the stalled car.

"No. I don't even know how to fix my moped's flat tyres and you expect me to fix a car?" Yamazaki questioned the blunette playfully, earning a soft chuckle from the girl.

"Hehe, sorry!" Natsuki giggled again and when she saw the brunette, she quickly bowed as she tried her best to hold the upcoming heat towards her cheeks. "G-good morning, Fujino-sama…"

Shizuru was momentarily speechless when she caught a light pinkish tint on the blunette's cheeks. _Ara! So cute! No wonder Anh loves to tease her! _"Good morning, Kuga-san…" she flashed her brightest smile to the blunette, causing the blush to deepen into a darker shade of red.

_Damn! That smile! Stop giving me that smile or I might faint right here, right now! _Natsuki could feel all her limbs started to wobble. Clearing her throat, she strode to the car, peeking inside the engine.

"Fujino-sama! Since Natsuki-chan is here, I should go back to work now…" Yamazaki gave the young brunette a bow.

"Ookini, Yamazaki-ojisan!" she said while the old man just waved as he entered the building, leaving the two girls outside.

"What's the problem?" Natsuki uttered it calmly, trying not to sound like she was nervous while being around that brunette executive.

Shizuru went to stand beside the blunette as she bent over. They were standing close to each other that their arms were almost touching.

"My car won't start… I've tried it a few times, and it didn't even make a single sound…" said Shizuru, staring at the blunette beside her. Luckily, Natsuki had her hair down, covering parts of her face from Shizuru's view. If not, she could definitely see her deeply blushing cheeks.

_Oh god… So close… _Natsuki could feel her throat starting to dry. _But yet so far… _She mentally shook the thought off her mind, trying to focus on the matter at hand.

"Let me check it first…" she spoke as she took off the cover of the battery. "No wonder…" she smirked.

"What is it?" Shizuru shifted so she could stand closer to the blunette.

"Here…" Natsuki pointed at the corrosions around the terminals on the battery. "Corroded posts prevent the power from getting through… It explains why you cannot start the engine."

"Ara… I never know about that…" Shizuru said innocently, placing a finger under her chin.

Natsuki smiled. "You need to check the battery regularly… The 3 biggest causes of dead car batteries are leaving your lights on, not maintaining your battery properly with the correct water levels, and breakdown of the diode bridge or voltage regulator in your alternator." She explained in details as she put back the cover on the battery.

Shizuru blinked her eyes again, trying to distinguish the details Natsuki had given her. "Ara… But I never check the battery on my own… I always send my car for service. I assumed they will do everything that necessary for my car…"

"Regular service sometimes does not entirely cover the whole specifications. Maybe they just check on the vital parts of the car and often overlook on something like this. There are things that might happen after the service too, like cracked battery. If you don't careful enough, it might be pretty dangerous…" Natsuki pulled out a handkerchief from her jacket, and she wiped her hands clean.

Shizuru smiled happily and she nodded. "I see. I will be more careful next time." She chuckled when she saw Natsuki's flustered face. "But, I'm so impressed that Kuga-san knows a lot about the problem just by looking at it…"

Natsuki scratched her heated cheek sheepishly. "Well, I'm doing some part-time at the workshop after working hours. It's been few years now… Anyway, do you want me to fix this?" she asked.

"Yes, please. I'm sorry for causing you trouble…" Shizuru smiled apologetically. Natsuki just grinned as she took off the jacket, revealing her toned arms, which didn't go unnoticed by a certain brunette as she pulled the garment.

"Don't worry about that. It might take awhile though. You can go back to the office while I'm working on this…" Natsuki hung the jacket on the side mirror.

Shizuru's eyes widened slightly. "Awhile?"

Natsuki halted as she stared at the worried look on Shizuru's face. "Yeah… it might take around 10 minutes for me to fix it. Why?"

As she said it, she saw Shizuru peered at the wrist watch and her face changed drastically.

"I need to go to a meeting! I don't think I could make it if I wait for another ten minutes…" said Shizuru as she sounded like a little panic.

Realizing the situation Shizuru was in, Natsuki quickly moved the iron stick that held the hood open, and she pushed it down firmly, locking the hood. "I'll take you there. Where?" she asked as she grabbed her jacket and put it on again hurriedly.

Shizuru blinked in surprise. "Aruze Heavy Industries… Um, it's okay, Kuga-san… I can call Yuuki-san to pick me here~"

"She's not in the office? Where did she go? When is the meeting?" Natsuki interrupted the brunette as she jogged to her bike, opening the compartment, and she retrieved a spare helmet.

"I asked her to meet someone at Fujiyama Corporation. And um, the meeting will start at 10." Shizuru was hesitant and didn't know what she should do when she saw Natsuki walked back to her and handed over a light purple helmet.

"Fujiyama Corp! It's like far across the town!" Natsuki twitched her brows.

Shizuru bit her lips nervously. "But…"

"Hey, listen! It will take around five to ten minutes for you to drive from here to Aruze Heavy Industries. And if you want to wait for Nao to come, pick you up and drive you there, it will cost you another 20 minutes. Now you got like 15 minutes left before the meeting starts. Besides, that spider drives like a snail! You won't make it if you insist to wait for her!" Natsuki practically barked to the brunette.

Shizuru was kind of startled when Natsuki snapped at her and at the same time, she was amazed on how calculative that raven haired girl was. She stared at the helmet in her hands and she looked at Natsuki again.

The blunette gave an assuring smile as she put on her own helmet. "Trust me. I know the shortest route to Aruze Heavy Industries. I can take you there less than 10 minutes."

Shizuru arched one brow mischievously. "Ara? Really?"

Natsuki smirked though it was concealed by her full-faced helmet.

"Wanna bet?"

* * *

She never felt so alive before. She was screaming her lungs out all the way to the Aruze Heavy Industries due to a certain raven-haired girl way of driving. When she thought she didn't know how it feels to be _this _close to death, try having Kuga Natsuki as your rider, and she will take you there to experience it yourself.

Driving like a professional racer, Natsuki dodged the traffic from right to left, which sometimes causing the brunette haired lady behind her to scream in panic, clutching her arms around the young biker's waist as if her life was depending on it. Feeling the tightening arms around her abdomen, Natsuki smiled inwardly. _Hell… I will trade my mayo for this kind of moment anytime…_

Natsuki kicked on the brake right in front Aruze Heavy Industries office, leaving a black, burnt trail across the square as the screeching sound echoed, causing quite an attention from the workers there. She flipped up the visor and she looked at her watch.

"Just like I said. I only took 7 minutes from our office to here!" she chuckled.

Shizuru slowly dismounted the bike as she felt her legs started to tremble. She let out a relief sigh when her feet touched the ground, feeling like her soul which had left her body awhile ago already returned. She took off her helmet and handed it to the biker. Natsuki received the helmet and she hugged it close.

"Ara… I wonder if Kuga-san always drives her bike like this every day…" Shizuru arched one brow playfully.

"Well… I usually drive a lot faster. Since this is your first time, I think I need to slow down a little… I didn't want to scare you, even though you've been screaming the whole way here…" Natsuki snorted when the brunette gave her a glare. But then, Shizuru giggled too, bringing up her palm to cover her mouth.

Natsuki just stared at the giggling brunette. She could feel her heart ache, knowing the fact she would never have such a chance like this again. _I couldn't ask for more than this, right? If I could be her friend, I think I would be enough…_

…_for now. _

"Kuga-san?"

Natsuki blinked. She saw Shizuru was staring at her in concern. _Shit. She caught me staring at her! Dammit!_ "S-shouldn't you be going right now? You might be late for the meeting…" she said nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck. Lucky her she got the helmet on. If not, Shizuru would get a perfect display of what she might call a 'Human Tomato'.

Shizuru seemed to stare at her again and she slowly smiled, nodding her head. "I just want to thank you for your help."

"It's okay." Natsuki clutched on the spare helmet in her hands tightly. "You're my boss after all…" her last words came out like a whisper but it didn't go to deaf ears.

Shizuru flinched slightly when she heard it. "I-I should go now…" she collected her files and purse from the compartment and she started to walk to the office. Halfway to the building, she halted.

"Kuga-san?" she called. Natsuki raised her eyebrows in response, looking at her questioningly.

Shizuru took a silent deep breath and she walked back to where Natsuki was. "Would you please wait for me?"

Natsuki blinked her eyes, surprised. "W-wait?" _You know what? I will wait for another 50 years if you asked me to~_

"Yes. I have something I want to talk about with you… I promise the meeting won't be long. Just a briefing about my next project and I'll be out around 20 minutes…" Shizuru said, waiting expectantly for Natsuki's answer.

"Sure. I'll be here…" Natsuki swallowed the lump inside her throat, and she saw Shizuru smiled brightly at her.

"Ookini, Kuga-san… I'll go now. See you later!" and she hastily walked into the office, leaving a certain dumbfounded blunette outside the building.

After Shizuru disappeared from her sight, Natsuki let out the breath she unconsciously held. Her hands were trembling slightly. "Thank god I didn't tremble in front of her…" she slowly rubbed her face, trying to calm her racing heart.

_I wonder what she wants to talk about…_

_

* * *

_

Exactly after 20 minutes, she saw one brunette haired woman walked out the building, smiling widely at her. Natsuki quickly straightened herself, brushing off her jeans and T-shirt she wore.

"Sorry for making you wait, Kuga-san…" Shizuru beamed as she hugged her files and purse close to her chest.

Natsuki just smiled. "It's okay."

"Anyway, I've already called my friend and she will come to pick me up here… You can go continue your work." said Shizuru. Natsuki nodded and she watched the brunette haired woman seemed to be fidgeting nervously. She waited for her to continue but Shizuru seemed hesitated.

"That's all?" Natsuki arched one brow.

Shizuru found herself tongue-tied at this moment. Finally gave in, she let out a sigh. "I'm so sorry, Kuga-san!" she bowed, which was unexpected to Natsuki.

"W-what! What are you apologizing for!" she could feel her cheeks started to heat up.

"About the other day… you know, when I declared you as my boyfriend to my friends…"

Natsuki blinked as she recalled. "Oh! Yes… that time! It's okay… it happen all the time…" she scratched her cheek. _Yeah right! You're the only person on earth who didn't notice how awesomely sexy my body is, Fujino Shizuru..._

Shizuru stared at the girl in surprise. "Ara? You mean there are a lot of girls asking you to pretend to be their boyfriend?"

_Eh? _Natsuki quickly waved her hands defensively. "No-no! I mean, sometimes people would mistake me as guy because of the way I dress up… So, don't worry about it."

Shizuru giggled when she saw Natsuki started to blush. "I see… So, I'm not the only one then?"

"You're not the only one." Natsuki repeated, smiling brightly.

"And um, about the preposition that I made…" Shizuru softly muttered. "I understand if you're not agree~"

"I'm in."

Once again, she was taken off guard with Natsuki's instant reply. "Y-you mean…"

Natsuki swallowed nervously. "I mean, I agree with your preposition. I will act as your boyfriend to the gathering that you mentioned."

There was a silence as they stared into each other's eyes as if they were searching for something.

"Really?" Shizuru just couldn't believe with what she heard.

"Yeah. I will do it. It might be fun!" Natsuki chuckled.

As if her burden was already being lifted off her shoulder, Shizuru sighed in relief. "I don't know how to thank you, Kuga-san…"

"You're paying me for this. I'm the one who needs to thank you…" Natsuki grinned. "Anyway, tell me anything that I need to do…"

Shizuru chuckled lightly. "Ara… first of all…" she paused. "You're fired from being a delivery girl, Kuga-san…"

"Wha-what? You're firing me? Why?" Natsuki was shocked.

"Ara… It's not like that, Kuga-san… I cannot let you do such a job again since we're an official _couple_ now, right…?" Shizuru giggled, amused with Natsuki's terrified expression.

Natsuki quickly blushed. "O-oh… I see…" _Official couple… Damn! It sure sounds so sweet to my ears…_

"And the most important thing you need to do…" Shizuru smiled sweetly as she pointed up a finger. "Stop calling me 'Fujino-sama'…"

Natsuki nodded. "O-Okay… So, what do you want me to call you then?" _Don't tell me you want me to call you 'Honey'… It's grossing me out!_

"Just call me Shizuru." The brunette added.

"Okay! Shizuru-san."

Shizuru waved a finger. "No-no. Just Shizuru." She repeated.

Natsuki could feel her nervousness came engulfing her again. "O-okay… S-Shizuru."

The aforementioned woman slowly curved up a smile when her name was being called in a cute, shy tone. She barely slipped a squeal when she saw Natsuki's cheeks started to redden.

"That should do it…" Shizuru gave a nod.

"B-but you need to do the same thing too!" Natsuki suddenly blurted out.

"Ara… Doing what, Kuga-san?" Shizuru arched one brow questioningly. Natsuki started to fidget as she fiddled her jacket.

"You have to call me by first name basis…"

Shizuru smiled softly. "Okay, Natsuki-san…"

"No! Just Natsuki…" the blunette snapped. "Just call me Natsuki…"

Shizuru widened her eyes slightly but then it slowly softened.

"It would be my pleasure… Natsuki."

* * *

**Review! Review! Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Me: Hey, hey! It's been a while, yes?**

**Readers: **...

**Me: Okay. I'll shut up now...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-Hime.**

* * *

**Chapter 6 **

"Hey."

A voice came from behind. She turned her head around, noticing one raven haired girl walking towards her, holding up two paper cups. She couldn't contain her amusement when she saw the younger girl almost stumble on her feet as she tried to balance the cups in her hands.

"Ara, be careful, Natsuki…" she warned. Natsuki flashed a wide grin as she walked, a tad more cautiously after being warned.

"Here. This one is for you." She handed over the cup in her right hand to the awaiting brunette.

Shizuru opened the lid which covered the cup and freshly brewed jasmine tea scent quickly wafted into her nose.

"Jasmine tea. How did you know it is my favorite morning beverage?" she asked while watching as Natsuki took a seat across the table.

"I've been stalking you for the past few months. Of course I know what your favorite is," said Natsuki nonchalantly as she slowly took a sip of her coffee.

Shizuru quirked an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Ara? Natsuki's been stalking me?"

Natsuki chuckled. "I'm just kidding. It's just a mere guess because Nao did mention to me that you often asked for tea while you're working."

"Ara, is that so? And here I am wishing that Natsuki did stalk me… What a shame…" Shizuru pouted her lips playfully, earning a full blast of red on Natsuki's cheeks. The blushing girl tried to hide her blush by taking a sip of her coffee while Shizuru just chuckled.

They both peacefully enjoyed their respective drinks, watching Sunday morning rays shimmered across the park as the mist slowly disappeared.

"So…" Shizuru said, breaking the silence between them, slowly putting down her cup atop the bench they're sitting on. "I wonder why you're taking me out so early in the morning. Not to mention it's Sunday."

Natsuki quieted for a moment as she fiddled with her half-full cup. "Well, uh… I-uh." She stammered. She could feel her cheeks started to heat up again.

Shizuru shifted, moving towards the girl and she leaned closer, "Ara? Natsuki's blushing. I wonder what is in her mind. Are you thinking about some naughty things, Natsuki?"

"Yes-what! NO! I mean, I'm not thinking about naughty things, Shizuru!" and the brunette was bursting into giggles. Natsuki groaned in frustration.

"Just stop laughing! I'm trying to be serious here! You're not helping me." She sighed.

"Okay! I'm sorry. What do you want to talk about?" After taking a breather, Shizuru calmed herself from laughing and she focused on the troubled, yet cute face before her.

Natsuki took a deep breath, and she faced the other girl beside her. "I got something to tell you." She said, staring intensely into a pair of crimson eyes in front of her.

Shizuru stared back with equal intensity to the depths of emeralds as she tried to look at what was inside the girl's mind. "…yes?"

"I know that this might sound crazy to you and you'll probably hate me after this…" Natsuki continued, slowly swallowing a lump inside her throat. She could feel it started to dry. She was extremely nervous.

Shizuru smiled calmingly, "What makes you think that? How could I possibly hate you if I don't even know what you're trying to say?"

Taking another deep breath, Natsuki shifted on her seat anxiously. "It's difficult for me to say this to you. I've been keeping this for a long time, ever since I worked with you. And this is not a simple matter right now since you've asked me to pretend to be your _boyfriend. _And now we're kinda friends to each other and I already considered you as a friend because you're such a nice person and I'm really happy to have you as my friend and I hope you are too—"

"Ara, Natsuki, Natsuki! You're not getting to your point. You've said the 'friend' word 3 times already." Shizuru laughed, interrupting the poor girl. She slowly placed her hand atop the trembling ones and she grasped it reassuringly.

"Calm down. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here to hear every single word you're going to say."

"I love you." Natsuki blurted out in panic.

There was a silence between them as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Shizu—"

Shizuru was stunned. She slowly pulled her hand from Natsuki's, turning her face away.

Natsuki realized she just made the greatest mistake a human could possibly do in the entire universe. She felt like want to kick her own ass but she knew that she couldn't unless she could bend her leg outward and give herself a solid kick on her stupid butt.

"Shizuru… I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't say that—"

"Yes, you shouldn't." Shizuru suddenly snapped, turning her face to stare at the other girl, totally disgusted.

Natsuki was taken aback with such a sudden retort. "Shizuru…"

The brunette shook her head as she quickly stood up. "This is so ridiculous. I thought that we're friends, Natsuki. How could you do this to me?"

Natsuki too bolted up from her seat, "I-I'm sorry! It's just I'm trying to be honest with you—"

"Honest? You're trying to be honest! This is the craziest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. You love me? Where did it come from! We're both girls, Natsuki! Can't you see that!"

Natsuki was tongue-tied. She never expected such response could come from a calm and composed woman like Shizuru. _I guess I just pushed a wrong button here…_

"And with telling me that, you think I would say the same thing to you? You should stop day-dreaming, Natsuki!" Shizuru shook her head again and out of nowhere, she pulled a roll of newspaper and …

_SMACK!_

Her head went blank. Her face hit the ground. A cold cement floor, accurately.

"Wake up, dumbass!" a voice came out of nowhere, thundering inside her ears.

Natsuki groaned as she slowly pushed herself up, slowly turned around to look at the silhouette of a person, standing before her. But the light that came from the ceiling lamp was blinding and she hovered her arm above her eyes, covering it from the blinding light.

"Shizuru?" she muttered.

"Who the hell is Shizuru? And what the hell are you doing here so early in the morning! It's 7.30 AM for god sake, Natsuki!" that voice roared again.

Natsuki closed her eyes tightly, trying to get rid of the stinging pain and she slowly rubbed them. Her sight gradually became clearer and an image of a man with long, braided hair and a pair of round glasses placed above the bridge of his nose was standing before her, hand grasping on a roll of newspaper.

Finally perceived the image, "Yamada?"

"No, I'm your Shizuru!" the older man shook his head in amusement when he saw Natsuki jolted up from the floor and looking around the area alarmingly.

"I'm in your workshop?" Natsuki scratched her head, confused.

"No. You're in strip club and I'm giving you a lap dance now…" Yamada grinned when Natsuki shot him a glare.

Scratching her head frantically, Natsuki yawned. "God. What a bummer… But thank god you woke me up from that dream, Yamada…"

Tossing the crumpled newspaper away, Yamada strode inside the garage and he took out a small wooden stool from the office and he sat down.

"Yeah-yeah. Anyway, you called out someone's name just now. Shizuru, if I'm not mistaken. Who is she?"

Natsuki yawned again and she stretched out her arms, "Just a friend."

Yamada started to smirk. "Yeah, right. A friend. Like I'm going to believe that." He scratched his scruffy chin. "Come to think of it, there's only one Shizuru in this town though, and she's Fujino Shizuru, your boss. Are you having a wet dream about her?"

"What! Don't be such a pervert, Yamada! It's just a freaking nightmare!" she shook her head while Yamada laughed at her bright, blushing face.

She brushed some dirt off her jeans as she stood up, "I've already fixed all the cars in here. You can call their owners today."

"Wait, what! All of them?" Yamada was astounded. Natsuki nodded.

"Yeah, all of them."

"How long have you been here anyway to fix all these cars?" Yamada pushed up the rim of his glasses.

Natsuki pouted her lips slightly. "I don't know. Since last night as far as I remember." She shrugged her shoulders.

"And Alyssa?"

"I already called her yesterday. She's cool with it." Natsuki walked towards the sink and she pumped some soap into her oily palms and she scrubbed them together. "Besides, it's not like I have any other jobs to do."

Yamada just watched the young girl cleaning up herself. "What do you mean you don't have other jobs? What about your delivery work?"

Natsuki pulled out a clean towel from the cupboard next to the sink and she gently dabbed her face dry. "I was fired."

"WHAT? Why would your boss fire you! Is that the reason you're having a nightmare just now?"

Natsuki burst into laughter instantly.

"Hahaha! Oh my god! No. That's not the reason. Geez, Yamada! You can be so ridiculous sometimes!"

"Well, it's because you're the one who has been driving me crazy ever since you've been working here!" he said while a small smile played across his face. "Come on, tell me! Why you were fired!"

Natsuki pulled a small chair and she sat a few feet away from the older man, "Where do I begin…"

After spending almost 15 minutes in elaborating the whole situation to a certain man, Natsuki took a deep breath, watching how Yamada's face slowly changed.

"W-wait. What! Her _boyfriend_?" Yamada repeated and Natsuki nodded.

"Boyfriend?" Yamada repeated the word the second time. Natsuki slowly rolled her eyes.

"Yes…"

The older man pondered again. His thin brows twitched as he stared at the raven-haired beauty before him. He rigorously shook his head in disbelieve.

"She asked you to be her _boyfriend?_"

"Oh my god. I don't even know why I'm telling you this." Natsuki threw her arms in frustration. "I'm going home, see ya!"

"Hey! Come on! I'm confused big time here! Do enlighten me about this."

Natsuki sighed for the umpteenth times that morning. "She paid me to pretend to be her boyfriend to this upcoming family gathering. Why is that so hard to understand?"

"My problem is, not only she asked you to be her fake boyfriend even though you're a girl, but she's going to take you to her family gathering as well?" asked Yamada.

"Yeah! That's what she said."

Yamada took a deep breath and he sighed. "And you just agreed?"

There was silence inside that workshop as Natsuki stared at the middle aged man, looking back at her, concerned. As his words slowly replayed inside her head, her realization kicked in.

"Her family… I will meet her family…" She muttered.

Yamada nodded. "You never really gave a thought about this, did you?"

_How am I supposed to think things through when Shizuru was the one who asked me that favor…?_ Natsuki settled down on her chair again.

"No… I never really thought about it…"

Yamada shook his head. "Listen. I don't know what drove you to agree with such a proposition. If it's about the money, I don't think you're so low that you have to take such a ridiculous offer. Did your friends know anything about this? Did you go ask for their opinion?"

"They know about this, but I didn't tell them yet that I've already accepted it."

Yamada slowly folded his arms. "Okay. What's the real deal here? You never go into something without your friends' advice."

Natsuki stared at the pair of dark eyes before her. _I wonder if he can actually read my mind sometimes… _She took a deep breath.

"I'm in love with her."

Yamada's brows quirked slightly at the revelation. At first he seemed stunned, but then his eyes softened and he gradually smiled to at the younger girl.

"People often make silly mistakes when they're in love, and you're no exception." He started as he patted Natsuki's arm. "You have to go find her and tell her that you can't do this stupid, fake boyfriend thing…"

"Why not?" Natsuki countered almost immediately. Yamada smiled.

"Okay. Let me break this down for you. You're a girl and you're going to that gathering, pretending to be Fujino-san's boyfriend. First question, how are you going to disguise yourself?"

Natsuki was taken aback with the question. She was silent momentarily as she studied the calm features in front of her. Yamada managed a small smile when Natsuki started to frown.

"Okay, let's leave it there for a moment. Second question, when you're there, you will be presented as Fujino-san's boyfriend. There's a possibility that the Fujino clan will assume you're the potential suitor for their one and only heiress. If they ever find out that you've planned this with Fujino-san, that you're actually a girl, that you're doing this fake boyfriend thing for money…" Yamada took a deep breath.

"And do you know what happens when you're dealing with Fujino clan?" said Yamada as he narrowed his slanted eyes.

Natsuki shook her head vigorously. She could feel her throat started to dry up.

"All I can say is that nobody dares to mess with the Fujinos. You better take care of yourself. Besides, it's not too late for you to back away from this crazy plan. Forget about that money, Natsuki. It's not worth it."

They lapsed into silence again. Natsuki looked down to where her feet were, staring at the cold, empty floor. Slowly an image of a certain brunette haired woman appeared. Natsuki closed her eyes. _How am I supposed to explain to her? Damn it. I should've thought about this before…_

"Hey, relax now. All you gotta do is see her. It's not like she's going to kill you or something. Better safe than sorry. And if she didn't want to take you back as a delivery girl, you're always welcome to work full-time here. It's not like I didn't offer you before, right?" said Yamada, reassuringly.

Natsuki managed a small nod and she slowly got off her chair. She grabbed her helmet, keys and her jacket on her way out of the workshop.

"Where are you going?" asked Yamada.

Putting on her jacket, Natsuki turned around and smiled. "Mai's. I wanna grab some breakfast before I go meet Shizuru-san…" and she slowly walked towards her parked motorcycle.

She kicked start her bike, the engine roared loudly across the quiet, misty road. It was still early and there were only a couple of people taking a morning walk. Fastening up her helmet, Natsuki took a deep breath.

_Great… Just great._

* * *

She parked her bike right outside the building. As she walked into the restaurant, she took off her helmet.

"Oh, Natsuki! You're early!" the spiky-haired girl hopped to her direction, a big grin plastered across her face.

Natsuki's mouth curved up in a warm smile. "Good morning, Mikoto!"

Nodding her head, Mikoto greeted back. "Good morning. I will go get Mai. She's in the kitchen right now."

"Okay." She placed her helmet atop the counter as she watched the younger girl disappeared into the other room. Natsuki took a look around. The restaurant was still empty. She knew it would only be a matter of time before a large group of people would swarm this place to get their regular morning kick starts.

"Good morning, Natsuki… You've never come this early before…" greeted one orange haired girl, walking out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hand. She carefully placed it atop the counter, right in front the raven haired girl.

Natsuki smiled, tugging the cup closer and picking it up. She brought the cup close to her nose and she inhaled the scent from a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

"Always the same…" she took a sip. "And the best."

Mai just giggled. "Anyway, do you want something to eat?"

Natsuki just shook her head. "Nah. I don't feel like eating anything today."

Mai arched one brow questioningly. "Eh? I thought you would want your sandwiches. Maybe you want to change to something lighter? I can make you some soup…" she offered but Natsuki just smiled kindly and waved in refusal.

The orange haired girl watched as Natsuki took another sip from her cup. _What's with her? She never refuses any of my meals…_ Mai leaned her arms on the counter and she stared at the raven-haired girl. Noticing that she was being watched intently by one Tokiha Mai, Natsuki let out a small sigh.

"What?"

"Is there something bothering you, Natsuki? You seem not yourself today…" asked Mai.

"No."

"You're lying."

Letting out another sigh, Natsuki put down her cup and she stared back into the pair of lavender eyes before her.

"I've already accepted that offer." She came clean.

Mai frowned slightly. "What offer?"

"That fake boyfriend thing… I agreed to help Shizuru…" Natsuki bit her lips nervously as she waited for Mai's reaction.

Mai's frowned again, "Wait, what? Shizuru? Since when have you called Fujino-san 'Shizuru'? Is there something that I missed?"

Natsuki couldn't hold a smile as the scene from yesterday flashed inside her mind. "Shizuru asked me to call her by her first name. And I asked her to do the same."

"So you two are on first name basis now?" Mai asked again. Natsuki nodded.

Looking more confused than ever, "Why?" Mai asked.

Natsuki rolled her eyes in frustration. "Urgh. It's because I've already accepted that proposition of hers. I'm going to be her fake boyfriend…"

Pause.

"No way!" Mai cupped her mouth. Natsuki managed a nod to affirm the statement. They stayed in silence for a moment as Mai tried to register everything inside her head.

"Do you really think this is a good idea, Natsuki…? I get it that you're trying to help her, but won't you be making a problem for yourself? "

"I know. Yamada told me the same thing too. When I thought about it, I realized that I didn't think it through before. Actually, Shizuru kinda wanted to drop the whole plan but I was the one who said yes to it." Natsuki scratched her forehead.

Mai smiled apologetically. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

Inhaling deeply, Natsuki shrugged. "I don't know. I don't want to be someone who says yes today, gives her hope, then the next day comes back and punches her in the face. It is sucks to think how bad this thing will turn out if it didn't work just like we wanted. And I don't want to humiliate myself either."

"You don't have to. You can always say no. It's not like she's going to file a lawsuit or something. There's no legit agreement between you two so there's nothing you need to be afraid of." Mai patted Natsuki's hand comfortingly.

A bitter smile appeared on Natsuki's lips. "But it's just getting started, Mai. Me and her. I don't want this to end."

"Who said that this relationship between you and Fujino-san needs to end? You can start with being her friend. Who knows? It might turn into something unexpected." Mai wiggled her brows playfully, earning a loud laugh from her raven-haired friend.

"What if she decided that she didn't want to get involved with me at all? You know, she's got her pride too. Besides, she used to be my boss. Isn't it awkward?" asked Natsuki.

"Well, it's her loss. If she decides like that, there's no point for you to stick with her. You deserve better, Natsuki. Don't waste your time over someone like that." Mai smiled reassuringly.

Natsuki looked down to her cup and traced her finger around the rim. Taking another deep breath, she smiled at her friend.

"Yeah. Thanks, Mai."

Mai nodded with a bright smile, "So, got the appetite to eat something now? You're not going home with an empty stomach, are you?"

Natsuki chuckled lightly. "Just give me my usual."

"Got it."

* * *

She pushed the door open, only to notice the presence of another person in that room.

"Anh. You're early." She smiled warmly at the woman, who was standing near the windows, looking at the calm and fairly busy town.

Anh curved up a small smile in response and walked to the nearest chair. "So are you."

Shizuru chuckled, walking to her desk and she placed her bag atop the clean, shiny mahogany surface.

Anh studied the other woman's features and her brows twitched. "Wait. What is this?"

"Ara? What is what, Anh?" Shizuru arched one eyebrow questioningly.

Anh motioned a finger around her face. "You're beaming. Did something good happened?"

Shizuru reflexively cupped both cheeks with her palms. She could feel the warmth emanating from the skin. "Ara, no I'm not. Why would you say that?"

Anh scoffed. "Right. Like we've known each other since yesterday. There's definitely something going on. Come on, tell me!"

Shizuru could no longer contain her glee, "Natsuki-san agreed to help me out."

Anh's thin brows knitted again. "What? She did?" She almost laughed.

Shizuru nodded in affirmation. Anh slowly leaned her back against the leather chair and she looked astounded.

"What did you say to her that made her agree? Last time I checked, she had a temper of a volcano. I didn't think she would agree that easy…"

"I didn't say anything. I thought I just wanted to apologize to her and call this thing off, but then out of nowhere, she said yes." Shizuru chuckled again.

Anh narrowed her eyes, unconvinced. "That is really surprising. Maybe she's in need of money, she didn't even care about what she had to do… Are you sure you did not blackmail her or something."

"Ara, no! I did nothing. Besides, she said that it might be fun doing this thing." Shizuru pressed a small button to turn her laptop on, "And maybe just like you said, she is in need of money. I don't see any reason to turn her down. I just want this to end really quickly so that my mother won't bother asking me when am I going to get married, with who, bla-bla-bla…"

Anh slowly folded her arms, quietly watching Shizuru as started her work. "May I say that even though you're the smartest person I've ever met in my life, you're also the dumbest one?"

Shizuru halted halfway on her report. She peered at the other person across her mahogany table with a questioning stare. "What?"

Anh sighed halfheartedly. "Shizuru, don't you think that the whole plan in asking Natsuki-san to be your boyfriend is stupid?"

Shizuru was taken aback by the statement. She slowly closed her laptop. "What do you mean?"

"At first, I thought it was kinda funny to make this whole 'fake boyfriend' thing happen. But when I think about it again, you're digging your own grave, Shizuru. Maybe it will work out the way we plan but then, what's next? This Fuuka City is a small town. Your mother probably will come across Natsuki-san on the street one day and when she realizes that, what do you plan to tell her?" said Anh.

Shizuru remained silent. No response came from that brunette as she stared into a pair of calm grey eyes before her.

"You never thought about it, did you?" Anh smiled. "You should tell your mother the truth, Shizuru…"

"I want to. It's just that—" Shizuru sighed in frustration. "You know my mother. Not to mention that she would try her best to be a match-maker, engaging me to date one of her friend's sons. It's really annoying."

Anh couldn't help but grin quietly. "You got yourself a point there… But I'm talking about Natsuki-san's situation too. This Fuuka City is a small town. The possibility of your mother running into Natsuki-san is high. If that ever happens, how are you going to explain to her? She would find out about this eventually."

Taking another deep breath, Shizuru remained silent as she threw her sight out of the window, staring at the wide, bright sky.

"You cannot keep on running away like this. Maybe you could fool her this time, what about the future? Are you going to find some other guy or girl to continue this stupid game you have? This is not going to end well, Shizuru. You have to go to your mother and tell her that she needs to stop treating you like a child. Your private life is your own business!" Anh added with a stern voice. Shizuru was about to retort when someone knocked at her door.

"We will continue this later, Anh…" she patted the older woman's hand and she walked towards the door. Anh slowly closed her eyes and calmed herself down.

Shizuru twisted the knob and she pushed the door open, "Yes?"

"Oh?"

Shizuru tilted her head up and she was presented with a pair of dumbfounded emerald eyes. "Natsuki?" she muttered, almost unheard.

Natsuki was trying her best not to blush right there. She quickly lifted a small box, "I-uh… I brought you some breakfast…"

Shizuru blinked her eyes in mild surprise. "Breakfast?" she stared at the box. _She brought me breakfast? No one has ever brought me breakfast before…_

Anh who had been sitting inside the office couldn't help but to overhear. She instantly got off her chair and skipped happily to the door, "Ara? Breakfast?"

Natsuki's brows instinctively twitched in annoyance. _Dang it! Why is this woman here? _"No. Not for you!" she replied curtly.

"Mou! Natsuki-chan is so mean!" Anh pouted playfully. Natsuki cringed when she heard the 'Natsuki-chan' from the other woman.

"Stop calling me that! It's gross!" the raven haired girl snapped and Anh burst into laughter.

Shizuru couldn't help but to smile when she saw Natsuki's cute scowl. _No wonder Anh loves to tease her. She's so adorable when she's embarrassed like that. _She gently placed her palm right under the box, supporting the weight. Natsuki titled her head to look at the other brunette.

"Thank you, Natsuki…" Shizuru smiled warmly, earning another full blast of red shade across the younger girl's cheeks.

"N-no problem." Natsuki stuttered nervously as she handed over the box. Shizuru nodded when she received the breakfast box and she walked back to her table. Anh winked at the poor, blushing girl at the door as she followed Shizuru.

"Uh, Anh-san…" she called. Anh immediately turned around to look at the other girl.

"Ara? What is it, _Natsuki-chan_?" she giggled when she noticed Natsuki scowled angrily.

Natsuki started to blush again. _I thought I would have a coffee alone with Shizuru… Oh well, nothing harm with being nice to her. She's Shizuru's friend anyway… _She thought.

"I hope you like coffee…" she curved her mouth up in a small smile. Anh simply arched her brows in surprise and she took a peek inside the breakfast box to see what Natsuki just brought. There were indeed two cups inside that box, together with some cleanly wrapped sandwiches.

_Ara, this girl really… _"I love coffee. Thank you." Anh smiled brightly to the girl. "Why don't you join us? We can share the coffee though." She grinned playfully.

Natsuki just glared at the older woman as she stepped into the office, slowly closing the door behind her. "I've already had mine. Thanks."

"That's a very nice of you, Natsuki, to bring us breakfast. To be honest, nobody ever gave me such a special treatment before…" Shizuru chuckled.

"Never? Right… What about Matsumoto-kun? He devoted, always bringing you breakfast for the past few years before you started asking Yamazaki-ojisan to block him from getting into your office…" Anh scoffed.

"Yes, he did. But I don't like him, remember? So it doesn't count then." Shizuru sounded a little bit annoyed when Anh mentioned about her past encounters with some man. She took one of the cups and she opened the lid. A freshly brewed jasmine tea scent quickly wafted into her nose.

"Ara? Jasmine tea? How did Natsuki know that this is actually my favorite beverage in the morning?" Shizuru was a bit surprised and impressed at the same time. She stared at the cute girl who had been standing at the center of the office.

_Should I say that I actually got it from my dreams? No-no. That's just plain crazy._ "Um… I dunno. Just a mere guess…" Natsuki shrugged with a lopsided grin on her lips. Both Shizuru and Anh giggled at Natsuki's response.

"You should sit down, Natsuki-chan… You're not going to stand there while we're having our breakfast, are you?" asked Anh as she carefully sipped her hot coffee.

"Right. Thanks." Natsuki took a glance at Shizuru who was enjoying her tea, calm and somewhat happy with the taste of the brew. Her lips curved up into an ease smile. _At least I got the right tea. Thank god I had that dream about taking her out for __a__ breakfast… Maybe I should trust my dreams after this… _She thought to herself as she slowly walked towards the sofa. She noticed a few framed certificates and credentials were hung on the wall. She moved closer, looking through frames by frames.

_Shit. This woman really knows how to get her stuff done! She's only 24 years old and already got a Ph.D in Business? Achievements and best student in the university! Hell! How am I going to compete with that? I didn't even finish my degree…_ A slight pang of jealousy seeped into her heart. _If only I could have finished my study, maybe my life wouldn't be this hard…_

"Find something interesting?"

_Shit!~ _Natsuki almost jumped when Shizuru sneaked behind her back. The older brunette couldn't help but giggle at Natsuki's startled face.

"I-um, no. I'm just looking though…" Natsuki felt her throat started to dry. This was the third times Shizuru stood so close to her and it took all the strength she had to not let her legs turn into jelly. She quickly turned her head to look at the frames again. They stood there, side by side, looking at the frames on that wall.

"You have such a freaking awesome list of great accomplishments, Shizuru… It's amazing." She spoke softly as she stared at the certificate which stated Shizuru's 'Best Student' award.

Shizuru was a bit startled with Natsuki's compliment. She instantly turned to look at the shorter girl, searching deep into the pair emerald orbs which glittered slightly under the ceiling lamp. There was a hint of honesty in her words as well in her voice. Something she hadn't heard for years. Though she always got it from other people, this time it was different.

"Ara… Thank you, Natsuki. It was a small award though. Nothing to be proud of…" she retorted and they shared smiles.

"What about Natsuki then?" Shizuru asked with interest.

Natsuki scratched her head sheepishly. "Nah. You don't wanna know anyway. It's boring."

"Ara, how do I know it would be boring if Natsuki doesn't tell me?" Shizuru flashed a bright smile to the other girl. Natsuki just snorted.

"No, seriously. I got nothing to share with you. I didn't even finish college, so… yeah." She grinned, a bit embarrassed.

Anh arched one brow in surprise while she was enjoying a piece of sandwich when she heard it. _No wonder she's been working so hard…_

Shizuru was silenced momentarily and she turned to look at the wall again. She knew that further questions could probably bring an awkward situation between them because clearly Natsuki wasn't so interested in telling the whole story about her background.

Natsuki took Shizuru's silence as an answer to her own question; _Is Shizuru going to look down on me after this because obviously, I'm not even close to her league to be standing next to her like this… _And to her own thought, Natsuki concluded that the answer was 'Yes'. Her lips slowly curved into a bitter smile.

"Well, there are a lot of great people I know out there who're haven't even finished high-school. But they walk tall and more successful than any other people who have amazing educational backgrounds…"

Both Natsuki and Shizuru turned around, finding the other brunette woman smiling at them. Anh slowly rose from her chair and walked to the pair.

"People shouldn't be judge by their scrolls of achievements and certificates of awards… It's not going to guarantee the kind of life they're going to have. Sometimes, people who're sleeping under the bridge are happier than those people who're sleeping on comfy, luxurious beds. If you ask me what kind of life I wanted, I would definitely choose happiness over luxury. What's the purpose having lots of money in your banks while you're bombarded by millions of problems every day?" Anh sighed as she stared at the wall where frames were hung.

There was a truth behind Anh's words and Shizuru acknowledged them. She wasn't any different from those people Anh described. She was unhappy. No. Actually, she never was happy in her life before. Doing what she was told, achieving things for other people to feel proud about.

But not for herself.

"So, Natsuki-chan. Do not worry about this kind of thing. Maybe your chance is yet to come. Wait patiently, good things will come to you…" Anh winked as she patted Natsuki's shoulder in a friendly gesture.

Natsuki couldn't help but grin sheepishly when she received such encouragement from the least expected person. But nonetheless, she nodded her head. "Thanks though."

"Can I get a kiss for that?" said Anh suddenly as she grinned.

"What! No! God! You just ruined these amazing feelings I had for you! You're so unbelievable!" Natsuki snapped angrily and Anh burst into hearty laughter.

Shizuru just watched the interaction between Natsuki and Anh. She felt like an outsider. _How come Anh can be so friendly __with Natsuki when she has only known Natsuki in the same period as me…?_

"Anyway, Shizuru…" Natsuki's voice immediately broke off Shizuru's thoughts.

"Yes?"

Natsuki took a deep breath as she snuck her hand into her jacket, pulling out a piece of paper which turned out to be the cheque Shizuru gave her the other day. She reached out her hand to the brunette. Both Anh and Shizuru stared at the blank cheque questioningly.

"I-uh… I don't know how to put this… But, I just want to inform you that I have to decline your proposition about getting me to be your fake boyfriend… So, this is the cheque you gave me the other day… And uh, I'm so sorry that I can't help you…" said Natsuki nervously.

There was silence inside that office. Anh and Shizuru turned to look at each other and then to the raven haired girl again.

After a few moment of quietness, Natsuki spoke, "I'm sorry that this came out of nowhere and I understand if you're going to be mad at me because of it's such a short notice. I know that I've already made a promise to help you out, but to be honest when I made that decision, I wasn't even thinking. Now I've been thinking thoroughly and I don't think I could do it… There're so many possible consequences that I might face if I decided to continue with this plan—"

"It's okay, Natsuki…" Shizuru quickly cut in and smiled. "I understand your situation… It's my fault too for asking too much from you… It's supposed to be my responsibility to think about this thoroughly before I went and gave you the proposition. I should have thought about your situation before agreeing to continue with the plan. No— actually, I should have never put you in this kind of situation in the first place. I'm so sorry, Natsuki…" Shizuru grasped the younger girl's hand and smiled apologetically.

Natsuki could feel a rush of warmth moving towards her cheeks when Shizuru held her hand like that. "N-no! It's my fault! It's my fault! You don't have to apologize like that!"

"No! It's my fault, Natsuki… I was so stupid to come up with this plan and drag you into this too…"

"No! Stop blaming yourself. You did nothing wrong. It was me! So stop, okay?"

Anh who had been standing there, looking at the two women back and forth as they tried to win the blame. She slowly rolled her eyes.

"OKAY! You both are at fault, so nothing hurts. Just stop this nonsense. You're hurting my head…" Anh finally lost it and she snapped as she walked back to her chair. Both Natsuki and Shizuru immediately shut up. They shared stares and suddenly burst into giggles.

"I'm being serious and you two laugh about it?" Anh asked incredulously as she shook her head. She peered at her watch, "Oh my god, I'm late for a meeting. I'm going now. Thanks for the breakfast, _Natsuki-chan_!" she chuckled when Natsuki shot her an angry glare.

"I'll be at your apartment tonight, okay?" Anh gave the other brunette an assuring smile as she held the door open. Shizuru just smiled and nodded her head. Anh managed to give Natsuki a playful wink before she quickly left the room, leaving the other two alone in that office.

And awkward silence quickly engulfed the room again as they remained silent.

_Damn. Now I'm alone with her… Shit, Anh! Why did you have to leave anyway? _"So…" Natsuki was the one to speak, "What are you going to do about this upcoming gathering?"

Shizuru took a deep breath and she settled on one of the sofas. "I haven't figured anything yet. But, don't worry… It's just a gathering. I could come out with a million excuses to skip that event anyway…" she chuckled. _No. Like my mother will let that happen. She probably would dispatch her special bodyguards to hunt me down if I didn't attend that gathering…_

Natsuki just stared at the calm features before her. Though it was faint, she noticed a hint of apprehension played across that beautiful façade. _She's not okay… Shit! Now I'm starting to question my decision to back away from this fake boyfriend plan…_

Shizuru somehow could see Natsuki's concern. She curved up a warm, reassuring smile. "Natsuki doesn't need to worry. I will explain to my mother and to Suzushiro-san about this situation. I was the one who created this mess, and I will clean it up…"

"You sure?" Natsuki asked again. Shizuru nodded her head, with more confident this time.

They just stared into each other's eyes. _She really has such beautiful eyes… _Shizuru didn't know why but she felt like she was drowning into the depths of an emerald sea. Warm and inviting. She had lost this kind of feeling years ago. _When father left us…_

But now, she could feel it again. _And I don't want to let it go…_

"Shizuru?"

She quickly snapped back into reality when Natsuki called her. "Ara, yes Natsuki?"

"I think I should be going now… You've got lots of work that needs to be done and I don't want to bother you any longer." Natsuki walked towards the door as she smiled to at the older woman.

Shizuru could feel her heart suddenly ached. _I already fired her yesterday, so that means this will be the last time I'll see her… Should I offer her the job back? But, would she accept it? Things will be awkward between us after all these things that have happened…_

"Natsuki, wait!"

The aforementioned girl stopped in her tracks when Shizuru called her. "What is it?" asked Natsuki, a bit startled. Shizuru was already on her feet and she quickly walked towards the raven haired girl.

"You're no longer working for this company, so pardon me for asking you this… Do you have any other job to attend? I mean, if you agree, you can always return to work at your previous position…" asked Shizuru, expectantly.

Natsuki blinked her eyes a couple of times. She never expected that Shizuru would ask her to return. _But things are not going to be the same…and it will be harder for me to do my job without having thoughts of making you my girlfriend… _Her fingers slowly clenched into a fist. _I'm trying to get through that phase and I don't want to repeat it all over again…_

"I've already accepted to be a full-time mechanic at the workshop I used to work at part-time… I'll be good. Thanks for the offer though." She smiled with unwavering confidence.

"Ara, I see…" Shizuru swallowed a small lump inside her throat.

"I should go now…" Natsuki bowed her head and was about to leave,

"Is there any chance for us to meet again?" Shizuru suddenly blurted out.

Natsuki was stunned. Again, she never expected such a question from that brunette and it left her tongue-tied.

"I mean, if you don't mind, maybe we can spend time like having breakfast together or something? Not like between boss and an employee, like friends." Asked Shizuru. Her eyes gleamed with anticipations.

_OH YEAH! SCORE! _Inside her mind, Natsuki was having a firework festival, celebrating the success. But instead of hopping around like a kangaroo on drugs, she just remained calm, even though it took all the strength she had to remain static on her feet.

"Definitely! I would love to do that!" she said with all the calmness she could muster.

Shizuru couldn't explain the feeling she had when she saw Natsuki smiled at her, agreeing with her suggestion. She was trying her best not to pounce on the younger girl because the happiness was so overwhelming, she could barely handle it.

"What about tomorrow morning?" suggested Shizuru.

"Tomorrow will be great!" Natsuki could no longer contain her joy. She knew she was grinning like a stupid girl. _Oh, like I give a damn about it!_

Shizuru chuckled and she nodded. _Tomorrow…_

"I'll see you tomorrow then…"

…_it's definitely going to be great._

* * *

**A shout-out for my beta! You're awesome! (^_^)v**

**Anyway, review anyone?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Howdy everyone? New chapter is here! Happy reading then. ^_^**

**Disclaimer: Mai-Hime is not mine. (Fuck you Sunrise!)**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

_You never know who these people may be… Possibly some random strangers…_

The smile on her lips broadened as she watched the younger girl walk to her with two mugs in her hands

_But when you lock eyes with them…_

Natsuki grinned widely as she placed the mugs on the table. "Jasmine tea, right?"

She chuckled and nodded. "Yes, Natsuki. Jasmine tea. You already got right yesterday. You don't have to ask me again."

Rubbing her nose, Natsuki beamed a wide grin, "Just checking."

Shizuru just shook her head, amused as she watched the younger girl take a seat right across the table.

…_you know at the very moment that they will affect your life in some profound way._

* * *

Inside the restaurant, it was fairly full. Everybody was with their own business, enjoying their morning meals. At the far corner of that restaurant, there were 2 women enjoying each other's company while drinking their respective beverage.

"You asked me to bring you to my favourite place. This is it. I often grab my daily meals here…" said Natsuki, slowly taking a sip of her coffee.

"Ara, I noticed it now that I used to order some take-outs before. Tokiha-san is really a good cook. I wouldn't mind to have my meal everyday here," said Shizuru as she wrapped hands around the mug, enjoying the warmth that emanating from it.

"Nah… She's not that good. Actually, the main reason I come here every day is because of my free meals privilege…" Natsuki scoffed.

Shizuru chuckled lightly at Natsuki's playful comment but then her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed someone was standing behind the raven haired beauty.

"Ara, Natsuki… Behind you…"

Natsuki blinked, "Eh?" and was about to turn around…

_Donk! _

She received a solid knock on her head from the very angry orange haired girl.

"Ouch!" Natsuki groaned. Her head was throbbing. She reflexively rubbed at the aching area.

"I heard that." Came a furious murmur from the cook as she clenched her fist while holding a tray on her other hand.

"I'm just kidding! Dammit, Mai! It freaking hurts!" Natsuki snapped angrily. Shizuru couldn't help but to giggle at Natsuki's fuming face.

"Do I care about it? Serves you right." Mai sneered. "Hi, Fujino-san! It's nice to see you here!" her mood instantly switched as she smiled welcomingly to the brunette haired woman.

"Ara, thank you for having me here, Tokiha-san. Your food is amazing. I've been your regular customer for a long time, if you hadn't notice…" Shizuru smiled warmly.

Mai grinned sheepishly as she scratched her head, "Ehe, I did notice. You often order for takeouts. But now I'm meeting you personally, I just want to say thank you for your support." She bowed.

Shizuru quickly waved her hands, "Ara, don't be like that, Tokiha-san. I'm just a customer who enjoys your cooking."

"Thank you so much. Enjoy your breakfast then. It's on me!" Mai chuckled as she winked at the brunette. Shizuru couldn't help but to laugh along and she nodded her head.

"Ookini, Tokiha-san. I really appreciate it."

"And you!" Mai nudged the raven-haired girl beside her. "You have to pay for your food today!"

Natsuki choked on her coffee. She instantly coughed so hard, she had tears in her eyes. "WHAT? Since when?"

"Since now." Mai replied curtly and she walked away.

Natsuki was left dumbfounded and Shizuru giggled again.

"I'm sure Tokiha-san was joking, Natsuki…"

Natsuki snorted. "I know. She threatened me a couple times before but she never meant it."

Shizuru slowly took a sip of her tea. "You have a bunch of great friends, Natsuki. I'm so jealous…"

"Don't be. Since we're friends now, they're your friends too." Natsuki replied while stirring her coffee, unaware of a sudden change on Shizuru's face.

"Ara, thank you, Natsuki."

Natsuki lifted up her head, looking dumbfounded, "What for?" she asked, staring directly into the gleaming crimson orbs before her. Shizuru curved up a smile and she chuckled.

"You're really kind and adorable. No wonder Anh took a liking to you…"

Natsuki's thin, dark brows instantly twitched but her cheeks went red at the compliment Shizuru gave. "What? No way!" _I don't want that woman's attention! I want yours!_

_Ara? Those blushing cheeks…_ Shizuru arched one brow, slightly amused by the reaction she received. _I'm going to give it a try…_ _Anh said that she's easy to tease…_

"Anyway, it's so nice of you to share your friends with me. I wonder if there is _something_ more you're willing to share if I asked," said Shizuru, her voice was a tad playful. She placed her palm under her chin as she stared at the heavily blushing girl across the table. She had to suppress the urge to laugh when she saw Natsuki's eyes widen and her cheeks flush into deeper shade of crimson.

_What kind of question is that? What's with her cheeky tone? And why is she staring at me like that? Is this really happening? _Natsuki cleared her throat, trying to sound calm and casual,

"Sharing things like what?" She asked back but her voice faltered a bit and her eyes were shy, not even daring to look back at the pair of crimson orbs.

Shizuru managed a wide grin. _Ara, kami-sama! I need to stop mentally laughing at this poor girl._ "Well, what I mean is since we're friends now and you're so willingly to share your friends with me, I wonder if you could share a bit about yourself too?"

Natsuki was speechless momentarily when she saw Shizuru smile again and waiting for her answer in anticipation.

"Y-yeah! Sure!"_ What am I thinking in the first place anyway? Sharing bed? You're such a fucking pervert, Kuga!_ Natsuki stammered and she scratched her heated cheek,

"What do you want to know about me anyway? I'm no celebrity and my life is not that interesting for you to know about…"

"Ara? I thought being friends could give me a privilege to learn more about you… Interesting or not, it will depends on me to judge." Shizuru shrugged her shoulder playfully and Natsuki just snorted.

"Oh well, since you insist…"

* * *

It was a normal day for her. Walking along the park with her DSLR camera in her hands, she would occasionally snap a picture or two if there was anything that caught her interest. It was part of her daily routine and at the same time, it would help inspire her for the photography project she was working on.

'Freestyle photography' as she called it, not attached to any kind of rules. Just taking random pictures where she thought the subject is beautiful. Animals, people, buildings… anything.

Then her eyes caught something. Or _someone_ in particular. That person was sitting on the swing, slowly kicking her legs up in the air as the swing swayed accordingly.

Chie found herself fascinated by the cheery and ecstatic look on that dark haired girl's face. She quickly held up her camera, looking through the viewfinder and she focused on the girl at the swing. She adjusted her lens for sharper image and as she was about to press the shutter, the girl in focus suddenly turned to look at her direction. A pair of luminous sapphire eyes was staring directly into her viewfinder and she found her finger froze from hitting the shutter button.

_Shit._ She quickly lowered her camera. The other girl raised her eyebrows questioningly when she saw Chie stood there, staring at her with this surprised look on her face.

"What are you doing, onee-chan?" she called with a cute voice, making Chie snapped from her daze. She quickly shook her head, taking a deep breath to relax her racing heart.

_Damn… For a second there, I thought I just saw her…_

Putting away her camera into her bag, Chie slowly made her way towards the girl who was still sitting on the swing as if she was waiting for her. She curved up a friendly smile.

"Hey there! What are you doing here alone?" she asked politely, trying not to scare the little girl away.

"I'm waiting for my friends to come. They promised me to play hide and seek with me today." The little girl pouted, more like annoyed. She bucked her hips back and forth to sway the swing.

_Hide and seek? So early in the morning? _Chie arched one brow, "Hmm… Don't you think it's a bit early to play hide and seek? It's 8.30 am. I don't think any of your friends are awake by now."

She slowly kneeled right beside the young girl. "And first of all, where are your parents? Why would they leave you here alone anyway?"

The girl slowly lowered her head, pouting her lips in guilt. "I did not tell daddy and mommy is working…"

Chie almost laugh when she saw that cute, guilt-ridden face. "Oh boy, aren't we in trouble?"

"Sowwie…" the young girl ducked her head more, making Chie burst into laugh. She petted the dark head tenderly.

"Come on now. I'm not the right person you need to apologize to. Let me take you home. Do you remember where your house is?" she asked. The dark haired girl nodded her head.

"Okay!" she stood on her feet again and she offered her right palm to the young girl. "Let's go, princess. I will take you back to your palace, safe and sound." She faked a deep voice and beamed a charming smile, making the dark haired girl to giggle girlishly as she placed her hand atop Chie's.

"Do you love taking pictures, nee-chan?" she asked as they walked along the empty road holding hands.

Chie quickly nodded. "Very much! I'm a photographer actually. So… it's kinda part of my job."

"Can I see it?" she asked excitedly.

"See what?"

"That picture of me you took just now!"

Chie blinked her eyes a few times. "Oh! That!" she scratched her head. "I'm so sorry. I didn't manage to capture your picture, princess. Maybe next time?" she curved up an apologetic smile.

"Okay! It's a promise then!" the dark haired girl pulled out her pinky and she reached out to the older woman beside her. "Pinky promise!"

Chie just arched her brows when she saw that girl held up a pinky to her. _Damn. I've never fulfilled any promise to the girls I had hooked up with in my life before and she just asked me to make one?_ She stared down at the pair of eyes which staring back at her, sapphire orbs glittering with anticipation.

_Oh well, I guess she's the only exception then._ Chie slowly hooked her own finger around the younger girl's. "It's a promise. I'll take your picture next time we meet." She beamed a bright smile.

The dark haired girl giggled happily and she nodded her head. "What's your name, onee-chan?"

She scratched her cheek with her index finger, "Hmm, you can call me Chie-chan. What's yours, princess?"

"Ok, Chie-chan! My name is–"

"AOKI!"

A loud, thunderous voice suddenly echoed from across the road. Chie quickly snapped her head to the voice's direction, her eyes narrowed to the approaching figure.

There stood a heavy looking man, ragged breath as if he had been running. His face contorted with anger as he stared menacingly at the short haired woman a few feet away.

_Is that her father?_ Chie suddenly felt little fingers wrapped around her right arm so tightly. She looked down and she saw the dark haired girl was clinging on her arm like her life was depended on it. Her face was terrified and she slowly backed away, taking cover behind the older woman's back.

"What do you think you're doing, huh?" the heavy looking man stomped his way towards them. "Went out so early in the morning without telling me? Who do you think you are? A princess that I need to follow wherever you go?" he barked. He tried to reach for the young girl but suddenly his arm being held firmly by the short haired woman.

Chie didn't know what was gotten into her when she suddenly became protective towards the girl she just met few minutes ago. Her hand moved by its own accord and she stopped the man's advance to reach for the dark haired girl behind her.

"Please be gentle, sir… You certainly don't want to cause a ruckus so early in the morning in your neighbourhood…" Chie spoke calmly, her hand still wrapped around the man's arm, holding it in place.

The other man narrowed his eyes to the woman before him. His eyes glinted with evident anger.

"…And who are you to ask me to do that?" his voice was deep and intimidating.

Chie didn't even flinch, instead her grip tightened when the other man attempted to release his arm from her secure grasp. "I'm nobody... and to be honest, is this how you appreciate someone who found your daughter sitting alone at the park without adults' supervision? It's way too dangerous to let your daughter go out so early in the morning without your notice."

The man turned to look at Aoki, the dark haired girl who was hiding behind Chie's back, clutching on the woman's thigh. Her hands were trembling and Chie could feel it. _What's going on between her and this man? _

There was a silence between them as both man and woman stared into each other's eyes. The man roughly snatched his arm out of Chie's grasp. He seemed to relax for a moment as he breathed in, staring at the terrified girl behind Chie's back.

"Let's go home, Aoki. Your mother is probably back from work anytime now." He finally spoke, a tad calmly from before.

_Finally..._ Chie turned to look at the younger girl behind her. "Aoki, right?" she asked and the young girl nodded her head.

Chie smiled. "Your father will take you home. You should go now before your mother finds out that you were not home when she got back from work." She patted the young girl's head tenderly.

Aoki just clung on Chie's arm as she stared up at the older woman. There was a glint in those sapphire eyes which Chie noticed and she knew so well. _She didn't want to go…_

Chie slowly kneeled. She placed a palm on the girl's cheek and she curved up an assuring smile as she took one of Aoki's hands, grasping it tenderly. "We made promise to see each other next time, right? So, you need to be a good girl and follow your dad home. If not, how's your mom going to let you go out again?"

Aoki just stared into Chie's dark eyes then she turned to look up at her father. The man just stared down coldly at her. Aoki swallowed hard. She turned to look at the older woman again, staring into the pair of adoring dark eyes, as if asking for help.

Chie quickly saw it. When she thought the man didn't notice, she stealthily slipped her business card into the Aoki's skirt's pocket. Leaning in to give a peck on the girl's cheek, she whispered and winked at the confused little girl, "Call me when you need me."

Aoki traced her fingers on the pocket where Chie's card was in. Her lips slowly curved up into a happy smile. She quickly nodded and she walked to the heavy looking man who had been standing there, staring at them through the corner of his eyes.

"See you again, Chie-chan!" Aoki waved her hand happily while her father already walked forward, leaving her a few steps behind.

Chie simply waved back with a bright smile on her face as she watched them disappeared at the corner of that road. Silence slowly engulfed the area again. Taking a deep breath, she scratched her head.

"Why am I going so out of my way to help that little girl anyway…?"

* * *

"So, there you go. A quick summary of the 'Biography of Kuga Natsuki'," she grinned, slowly lifting her mug and bringing it closer to her lips. "And thank you for listening," she added and laughed before she took a sip.

Shizuru giggled, fingers rotating the mug as warm liquid twirling inside it. "And I will give 5 stars for that quick summary."

Natsuki snorted and they shared smiles.

"It's nice to know about you and your family, Natsuki. I wish I could meet your little sister one day," Shizuru rested her back against the chair, staring at the raven haired girl across her table.

"You will someday. She's going to be thrilled to meet you." _Of course she will. She's been bugging me with 'who is this Fujino girl you've been gaga about?' the whole fucking time._ Natsuki couldn't help but to smile wider when the thought of her sister meeting Shizuru one day crossed her mind. _I'm pretty sure she will interrogate her like a freaking policewoman..._

Shizuru arched one brow when she saw Natsuki's wide smile. "Ara, why are you smiling, Natsuki? Are you thinking about something?"

Natsuki blinked, "Eh? No–nothing." Her cheeks quickly flushed.

Shizuru curved up a playful smile, "Ara? If it's nothing, why is Natsuki blushing? Is she thinking about someone _special_?" she deliberately emphasized the word, making the other girl blush more.

Natsuki shook her head and was trying to calm her racing heart. "No, I don't have 'someone special' in my life…" _yet._ _And if there was, it would be just you._

_Ara? That's surprising. Despite of her tough demeanor, she's a very beautiful and interesting girl once you've got to know her. I don't think men in Fuuka are THAT blind to notice this kind of beauty walking around the town every day, right?_

"Ara? Natsuki is single? I thought Natsuki already have a full list of potential suitors as her future spouse." Shizuru grinned again, earning another full blast of crimson cheeks and an angry stare.

_Urgh, this woman! She's much worse than Anh!_ Natsuki puffed out a defeated sigh. Shizuru just couldn't help but to giggle, claiming the victory.

She watched the other woman laughing longingly, like the surroundings were being shut and the only thing she could see was her.

_It is funny how everything literally goes into slow motion when you're with the person you love. It was like God gave you a certain amount of time to capture every detail, for you put it in a frame and screw it into your brain forever._

Her chest started to ache. She took a deep breath again, calming her heart, enduring the pain. _So what's next? Just another friendly outing like this? I know that I've been asking way too much before and thanks to you God, you finally did grant my wish, but..._

She noticed that the raven haired girl had been quiet since the moment she commented about her being single. _Did I just cross the line?_ She started to worry.

"Ara? Is Natsuki mad? I'm sorry if I just said something I wasn't supposed to..." Shizuru quickly put her palm together apologetically.

_Eh?_ Natsuki blinked. "Wh-what? No! It's nothing. I was just thinking about something," she retorted nervously. _Dang! I almost get caught!_

"You're thinking about what?" the brunette asked.

Natsuki deliberately scratched her head. Her heart was racing and she was nervous. Shizuru was staring at her, waiting impatiently for her response.

_God, I know that I'm being greedy..._

"Well, tomorrow's Saturday..." Natsuki smiled.

Shizuru arched her brows, "...and?"

_But I'm not going to give up my chance to spend more time with her._

She rested her arms atop the table. "Would you like to go out with me?"

* * *

**Yes, this chapter is short. I know... T_T**

**Review anyone?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone. New chapter is here. I'm so glad that my pace in writing this story is back. Hope it will still be as entertaining for you guys to read. **

**Happy reading then! ^_^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-HiMe. (Fuck it! I'm so going to rob a bank tonight and fly to Japan to win the the ownership of Sunrise Studio and I will demand for fucking sequel, trilogy or better saga for this anime!)**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

_You never realize how much you like someone…_

_…__until you watch them with someone else._

* * *

"WHAT?" they shouted at the very same time, making their raven haired friend flinched slightly at their sudden outburst.

Natsuki scratched her cheek with her index finger, "Is it that bad?"

Mai slapped her head in frustration. "Why did you say that in the first place anyway? Urgh! I can't believe this!"

"I've just lost my faith in humanity…" Chie slumped her shoulders and she sighed heavily.

"Aren't you guys being overly dramatic about this? I'm just asking her out. What's the big deal?" a cute frown had creased the innocent feature of the raven haired girl.

Nao shook her head slightly, "We know that, stupid… It's just where did you say you want to take her?"

"Batting cage?" Natsuki cocked a brow.

"THAT'S THE BIG DEAL!" Nao, Mai and Chie barked, startling their blunette friend.

They went into a quick silence before Chie started to speak again,

"Seriously, Natsuki… Who the hell take a girl out for a date at the batting cage? What's your plan once you get there? Lovingly pet Fujino-san's head with a bat or shoving her mouth with some balls? This is just ridiculous! You should at least take her to the mall, do some shopping and get to know what her favourites!"

Natsuki stared at each of her friends back and forth. "I thought I just want to do something fun with her…"

The red head scoffed, "It is fun for _you_! Not for that woman! And by the way, did she even agree to this stupid plan of yours?"

* * *

_A few hours earlier._

"Ara! Batting cage? That sounds fun. I've never been in that place before. I've been wondering how those baseball players manage to hit the ball in such great speed. Maybe I should try it myself once we get there!"

* * *

"That's what she said." Natsuki shrugged while her three friends groaned in a deep frustration.

"Can I simply say that my boss is such a dumbass just like you? You guys could really make a great couple…" Nao sighed again, shaking her head while Natsuki shot her a death glare.

"Oh wait…" The short haired girl raised a finger. "Come to think of it, it wasn't really a bad idea after all..." Chie suddenly spoke and her friends quickly turned to face her.

"What? Come on, Harada! Not you too?" Nao whined.

Natsuki was surprised. "Eh? You think so?"

Chie nodded. "A-ha! Let me break this down for you, Natsuki-kun... Firstly, Fujino-san said that she's never been in the batting cage before right? That means she doesn't know how to swing a bat."

Mai and Natsuki nodded as they listened attentively while Nao yawned.

"This is just stupid." The red head groaned.

"SHHHHH!" both Natsuki and Mai quickly shushed her. Nao rolled her eyes.

Chie chuckled at Nao's annoyed face. "Anyway, this is where _you_ will step up and offer her a '101 Guides for Dummies on How to Swing a Baseball Bat', Natsuki-kun!" she patted on the raven-haired girl's shoulder happily.

"Oohhh! That is so romantic, Natsuki! I could literally imagine you stand behind Fujino-san's, hands on her waist, guiding her to swing the bat... Kyaaa!" the orange head squealed excitedly while the latter already blushed when the image described was portrayed inside her brain in an instant.

"You're picturing it now, right mutt?" Nao grinned playfully.

"Stop peeking into my fantasies, spider! And why are you being overly excited about it, Mai?" Natsuki sighed and shook her head.

"Of course I am! You're going to have a date with Fujino-san! You certainly are going to sweep her off her feet tomorrow night with your chivalry!" Mai squeaked again.

"What the f− It's just a batting game, Mai!" Natsuki laughed. As she was about to retort again, her phone rang. Quickly retrieving it from her jeans' pocket, she peered at the small screen as it rang. Her eyes brightened instantly.

"Speaking of the devil..." Natsuki arched one brow to her friends. "Hi, Shizuru."

Mai and Chie went 'Oohh' while Nao rolled her eyes again.

"_Hi Natsuki. I'm sorry for calling when you're at work. Are you busy now? If you are, maybe I'll call you later..."_

The sweet voice could be heard from the other line and her lips unconsciously curved upwards, unaware of the playful grins from her friends. When she did notice it, she frowned and quickly made her way further from her group of friends and to the far corner of that restaurant.

"Damn you guys!" she mouthed out friends just laughed.

"No-no, it's okay. I'm not in the middle of my work. I'm at Mai's restaurant now, having a quick break. Is there anything, Shizuru?"

"_Ara? Is Natsuki skipping from doing her work?" _Her voice was full with mirth and as if she was right in front of her, Natsuki's cheeks were flushed bright red.

"NO! I'm not skipping work! Besides, I've already finished fixing all those cars and I just need to wait for their owners to collect it−" her reply quickly came into a halt when she heard hearty laughs on the other line.

"_Natsuki... I'm just joking! You don't have to explain everything to me. I know you're such a great worker. I am once your boss, remember?"_

Natsuki blinked momentarily. "Y-yeah! Right!" she coughed, composing herself, "Anyway, what do you want to talk about, Shizuru?"

The heavy accented voice was giggling again before she continued, _"Ara, it's about our plan to the batting cage tomorrow night..."_

She could feel like her heart was being pulled. "Um, is there anything wrong? Do you want to cancel it?" _Oh, please God, Kami-sama, sweet Buddha... Please don't cancel this plan! It took all the strength that I had to ask her out earlier this morning..._

"_No. I'm not going to cancel it, Natsuki. I'm looking forward to it!" _Shizuru chuckled.

_Give me five, God! Thank you! _Natsuki instantly let out the air she unconsciously held earlier. "Oh? So, what's the problem then?"

There was a short silence.

_"Ara, well..."_

* * *

_The Next Day: 'Date' night._

She was pissed. She blindly swung her bat when the pitcher machine pitched the balls from the opposing end.

And none was hit.

_Damn it! What is this fuckery! Why things have to turn out like this!_

Another ball went flying towards her in a high momentum. She didn't even focus when she swung the bat. The ball was missed again and it hit the chain-link fence behind her.

"Fuck!" she grunted under her breath.

"Oh, wow. For someone who proposed a night out at this place, she's surprisingly horrible in this game..."

Natsuki bit her lower lip and she stared at the brunette haired woman who was standing about 4 feet away from her through the corner of her eyes.

"Shut up." She hissed.

Anh cocked an eyebrow. "Ara? Natsuki-chan seems angry. I wonder why?"

A bright blinking red light could be seen from the pitching machine as a signal for another ball coming.

Natsuki puffed out angrily, picking up her metal bat and slowly positioning herself again. Another ball approached fast and she swung her bat. She thought she managed to hit the ball but to her surprise, it wasn't the ball was flying.

It was a metal bat.

_Eh? _Natsuki looked down at her empty hands, wondering where her metal club had gone. _Don't tell me... _She watched as the metal club dropped to the floor with loud clanking sounds.

Silence quickly engulfed that arena.

Both Anh and Natsuki were blinking as they looked at the unmoving club at the center of that arena.

"Woohoo! Nice _hit, _mutt! Run now! It's a fucking home-run! Hahahahahaha~" Nao and Chie broke into laughing frenzy, they rolled on the floor.

Anh quickly cupped her mouth. She had to endure the urge to laugh and it took all strength she had to hold it. But in the end, she went crouching on the floor, head between her knees, her body shook violently as she laughed hard.

Natsuki just stood there, fidgeting and could feel her face started to numb, her ears were hot with embarrassment. Her head was _this _close to erupt when the laughter wasn't going to stop, instead, it was getting louder and louder. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her anger and slowly made her way to the center of that arena. She didn't even dare to take a glimpse at the other batting zone where a particular blonde haired girl and a brunette woman occupied. _The last thing I want to see is Shizuru laughing at me. _

Unbeknownst to the raven haired girl, Shizuru wasn't even looking at the whole commotion.

She picked the metal club, striding back and she angrily threw the cheap metal club onto the floor.

"Fuck this bat! And SHUT UP, YOU TWO!" she yelled at her two laughing friends. Chie and Nao ignored the fuming blunette and they continued to laugh.

Anh couldn't hold her smirk, "Ara? Putting the blame on the bat when she couldn't swing it properly?"

Natsuki sighed heavily. She walked to the small switch at the corner of their batting zone and she flicked it. The pitching machine quickly turned off.

"It's because I can't focus!" she snapped at the brunette.

"Ara? Why is that? Is there something bothering you, Natsuki-chan?" Anh posed a finger under her chin, the one she often saw Shizuru made when she wanted to strike a playful remark.

"Yes, YOU! You are the problem! And stop calling me 'Natsuki-chan'!" Natsuki retorted straight away.

Anh blinked a couple of times then a smirk appeared on her lips again, "Ara? Natsuki-chan is distracted by me? Is she so enthralled by my beauty that she couldn't focus?"

"WHAT? NO!" the raven haired girl yelled, earning quite attention from the other occupants in that batting arena. Anh just laughed again.

"And I don't even know why you are here in the first place! I don't remember asking you too!" Natsuki exclaimed angrily.

Anh arched her brows, "Eh? I thought that you agreed before?"

* * *

_Yesterday._

"Oh? So, what's the problem then?"

There was a short silence. _"Um, well... I was talking to Anh just now and I just slipped out about our plan for some batting game tomorrow night. She wants to come too. I think it will be great to have more company to play together, right? What do you think, Natsuki? "_

_There goes my plan... _Natsuki could feel her head spinning. There were a few imaginary Anh with devil's wings flying around her head, laughing devilishly at her.

She slowly clutched her throbbing head, "Y-yeah! Absolutely! The more, the merrier, right?"

"_Ara, thank you, Natsuki! I think maybe we should ask Tokiha-san and Yuuki-san too? Oh, and your little sister? Do you think she would be okay to play together?" _

Natsuki already banged her head on the nearest wall in frustration.

"Yes, she will..."

* * *

_And because of that, we ended up inviting everyone to play some batting game. _She turned around to look at the other side of batting zone. Mai was paired up with Mikoto, Chie was with Nao and Shizuru was paired up with her little sister.

_And that fucking spider even made me paired up with this woman!_

* * *

"_Okay, now our partners will be set by fate! Pick your string here and look at the end of it. If your colour matches with the other person, you're partners!" The red head reached out her fist where there were a few strings inside it._

_They obediently took their turn. _

"_Orange." Mai lifted up her thread. _

"_Yay! Mai's with me!" Mikoto leaped forward to hug the orange head as she waved her orange-end string. _

"_It's red. It seems like we're going to win this game, Yuuki Nao!" Chie draped one arm around the red head's shoulder and they shared laughs. _

_Only four strings left. Alyssa, Shizuru, Natsuki and Anh took theirs respectively. _

"_I'm blue." said Natsuki. She quickly turned around to find her partner._

_To her agony, it wasn't on the right brunette she wanted._

_Anh waved the blue-end string as she chuckled, "It seems like the fate has spoken, Natsuki-chan! You're paired up with me!"_

_The raven haired girl just slapped her forehead. _

_Shizuru looked at the string she picked, "Ara, it's purple. So it means..." she turned to look at the 13 years old blonde before her. Alyssa curved up a small smile. She lifted up the purple-end string in her right hand._

"_We're teammates."_

* * *

Natsuki glared at the red head who was sitting on the floor, waiting for her turn to play. _Fuck you, spider! This is all your fault!_

As if she could hear the blunette's mental rant, Nao grinned at the fuming raven haired girl and she pointed up a thumb and as the result, she earned a middle finger from her angry friend. Nao just laughed.

Decided to ignore the red head, Natsuki turned to look at the other batting zones which were occupied by other two teams. Mai and Mikoto were at the other end while Shizuru and Alyssa were next to them. She watched how the blonde would give little tips to the brunette on how to swing the bat. Her lips curved up into a smile. _It looks like she's comfortable with Alyssa. Hope things will be going well between them..._

"Your little sister is pretty good, Natsuki-chan..." Anh was standing next to her, watching how the little blonde would effortlessly swing the bat and strike the ball high.

Natsuki scoffed, "Of course she is. I've been training her all these years. We often drop to this place almost every weekend."

Anh arched her brows, fascinated by the younger girl's remark. "Ara? If that so, would Natsuki teach me too?" she held up her bat to the raven haired girl with a pleading smile on her face.

Natsuki blinked momentarily then she just couldn't help but to snort at Anh's puppy eyes.

_There's no point ranting about didn't get paired up with Shizuru. The main purpose to be here is to have fun... _Natsuki took a deep breath and she smiled to the older woman. She took the bat and she went back to the switch, turned on the pitching machine.

"Okay-okay! But you need to pay for this training!" She grinned playfully to the brunette.

"Ara? But I don't have much money… Would you take my body instead?" a mischievous smirk adorned her flawless face.

In a millisecond, Natsuki's face flushed into a bright shade of crimson, "WHAT? NO!"

* * *

She was watching them play. They were laughing, enjoying each other's company as she watched her stood behind the other, wrapping her fingers on her waist, more like hugging from her point of view. Her thin brows unconsciously creased. _Does she really need her to do that much?_

"Your turn, Fujino-san." Alyssa stepped back and dropped her bat to her side, unintentionally knocked the floor with a loud clanking sound.

Snapping out from the reverie, Shizuru quickly smiled and she nodded. "Yes. And please stop calling me Fujino-san, Alyssa-chan... It makes me feel awkward..." she chuckled as she positioned herself.

Alyssa just grinned. "Okay, if you said so. I don't want people say that my sister didn't teach me manners when talking to someone superior..."

Shizuru arched her brows when she heard it. _Ara? This girl really..._

"Don't worry, Alyssa-chan. Natsuki and I are friends now. I'm no longer Natsuki's employer. Nobody will say that to you." She smiled, assuring the young blonde.

"Okay..." Alyssa managed a nod in reply, rested her back against the fence.

Shizuru chuckled lightly and she stared up ahead to the pitching machine, waiting for the ball to come.

_TANG! _

The sound quickly brought her head to look around. She saw a ball went flying, hitting the tall fence far ahead. _Ara? Whose ball is that? It's a home-run..._

"YEAH! You did it!" Natsuki screamed excitedly.

"Nice hit, Anh-san!" Nao and Chie cheered while Mai and Mikoto clapped.

"I did?" Anh was hesitant as she looked down at her bat and to the ball which dropped at the far corner of that arena.

"Yes you did, silly! That's your ball there! It's a homerun, 'ya know?" Natsuki laughed again when she saw the surprised look on that brunette's face.

Anh still couldn't believe it. She went to look at the bat in her hand and the ball at the other side back and forth. Her face slowly brightened.

"I did it? YES! I did it, Natsuki!" Anh was jumping up and down happily and she lunged forward, pulling the younger girl into a tight hug. Natsuki just hugged the older woman back, laughing together.

They were unaware of a particular angry stare from across the batting zone.

"Shizuru-san! Look out!"

_Eh? _A distressed voice called her out from her own thought. By the time she turned her head around, a high-speed ball went past her right cheek, merely centimetres away from knocking her solid in the face and it hit the cage behind her.

She felt the arena went into silence momentarily and she only thing she could hear was her erratic heartbeats. _Ara? That was close..._

"Are you okay, Shizuru-san?" Alyssa grabbed hold the older woman's shoulder.

Shizuru suddenly felt her throat dry. She tried to come out with an answer but it seemed like her brain couldn't figure out a single word to response. She turned to look around the arena. The others looked like did not notice anything because they were engrossed with their own game. Her crimson eyes spotted two people at the other end of that batting arena. This time, she saw the raven haired girl was holding her brunette friend from behind, guiding her arms to swing the bat properly. Her brows started to frown again. She quickly looked away. _W-what is this?_

"Shizuru-san?" a little shake on her shoulder quickly brought her back from her absurd musing. She was presented with a pair of cerulean eyes, looking deep into her with concern.

"Are you okay? You seem a little off just now. You want to take a rest?" asked the young blonde.

Shizuru quickly shook her head and gave a small smile. "Ara, no. I'm okay, Alyssa-chan! I'm okay! Thank you!"

"Are you sure? You don't seem like you're okay... Please take a rest if you're tired."

Chuckling to the younger girl's concerns, Shizuru just waved her hand, "No, I really am okay! Come on now! I want to win this game!" she picked up her bat and slowly positioned herself again.

Alyssa was dumbfounded with the brunette's behaviour. She turned to look at the direction Shizuru were looking just now. She saw her sister was standing right behind Anh, holding her arms, leading the brunette to swing for another homerun.

_Who is she looking at? Anh-san or Onee-chan?_

* * *

After 30 minutes of endless bat swings, they decided to take a break. Mai brought a picnic basket which filled with variety of food and refreshments. They sat at the bench provided, enjoying their respective drinks.

"So, the points so far... Alyssa-chan and Fujino-san team is leading. Me and Nao are right behind and Mikoto-Mai after that..." Chie checked on the score sheet as she took a sip of her orange juice.

"But seriously, how many points does mutt gets with throwing a _bat _to homerun?" Nao grinned widely while Chie sprayed her drinks out of her mouth, laughing hard. Natsuki shot a death glare at her two friends but they seemed unaffected by that glare, they just continued to laugh. They quickly walked to sit with Mai and Mikoto before Natsuki went berserk.

"Ara-ara! I thought me and Natsuki did a few home-runs just now? We deserve a top spot, right?" Anh chuckled. Natsuki quickly nodded in affirmation with a wide grin on her face.

"Yes, I'm _sure_ you do. You seem to _overly_ enjoy yourself with this game, ne?" Shizuru suddenly spoke, her voice was a bit sarcastic but it went unnoticed to the others except to a certain brunette haired woman.

_Ara? _Anh arched an eyebrow. Calm grey eyes staring into the piercing crimson orbs intensely. "Yes. I _am_…" She replied.

After a few moment, Anh looked away with a smug smile on her face and she walked to where Mikoto and Mai were, leaving the slightly disturbed brunette with the dumbfounded raven haired girl alone.

Shizuru unconsciously exhaled the breath she held a moment earlier. _What's with that smile of her? And first of all, what's going on with me? Why did I ask her such question? This is so absurd..._

Natsuki quietly took a sip of her drinks as she took a glance at both brunettes. _Okay... I thought I just saw something about to go down just now... _Decided to shake it off, she turned to face her object of affection. "Are you having fun, Shizuru?"

Chuckling lightly, Shizuru nodded. "Yes, I am! Never thought by having a little game like this could ease your tension. Thank you, Natsuki for bringing me here." She beamed a warm smile to the blunette.

Natsuki quickly blushed. "N-no problem. Glad you like it!"

Shizuru chuckled again at Natsuki's blushing cheeks. _How are you not going to like her? She's just adorable... _"Anyway, I can see that you and Alyssa-chan are really good in this game. Do you two always come to this place?"

"Yep. Almost every weekend. As you can see, Alyssa is really good in it. I hope she would join the baseball club in her school but she doesn't want to..." Natsuki shrugged.

Shizuru pouted slightly, "Ara? What a waste... I'm sure she will excel in her club if she joined in. Is there any particular reason she doesn't want to join?"

"It's because I hate the attention those people would give me when I play..." Alyssa interjected as she stood next to her older sister. Natsuki just laughed, circling her shoulder playfully. Shizuru also laughed at the cute annoyed look on the blonde's face.

"Um, Natsuki?"

Natsuki tilted her head up, "Yeah?"

Shizuru smiled again, "Do you mind if I ask you to teach me how to play this properly?" she said, gesturing at the metal club in her right hand.

_Wa-wait, what? _Her heart skipped a beat when she heard it. Her throat went dry. She blinked a couple of times in disbelieve. "Um... what?"

Shizuru chuckled at Natsuki's perplexed look, "I mean it's not like Alyssa didn't teach me well enough. She's a great instructor, but I want to learn from the _master_ myself, if you don't mind..."

_Am I hearing things right? Did she just ask me to teach her? I-is this real life? _Natsuki was left tongue-tied.

Alyssa cocked an eyebrow as she peered playfully at her sister's surprised face. She sneakily nudged the blunette's waist to snap her from her daze. Feeling a soft nudge, Natsuki quickly shook the thought off her head.

"Y-ye-yeah! Sure! I'll teach you! No problem!" she quickly blurted out, scratching the back of her head nervously.

Shizuru nodded her head happily, "Ara! Great! Come now. I don't want to waste more time. It's getting late already!" she motioned the blunette to follow her.

As she started to walk, Natsuki gave her little sister a surprised look, mouth agape which made the little blonde to laugh. Alyssa pointed up a thumb and she winked at the older blunette. Natsuki mouthed out 'Thank you' and she jogged, trailing the retreating brunette to the batting zone at the far end of that arena.

* * *

_TANG!_

Another home-run hit from the blunette. Natsuki exhaled a nervous breath, lowering her bat and she quickly turned around, finding Shizuru stare at her with a wide smile on her face. Another rush of heat came rushing to her cheeks.

"T-that's how to do it..." she stammered, taking a step back to give some space for Shizuru to take position.

"Ara! I don't think I could do it that well. Could Natsuki show it to me again?" A wide grin spread across her face. _Oh my... What is happening to me? Why am I enjoying this? _

She just couldn't believe with what she heard. _Damn this woman! Does she really pay attention to me or not?_ "O-okay then. Just watch closely. I'm not going to repeat it again−"

"No. Natsuki just need to show me how by guiding me." Shizuru suddenly cut in and she stood in front the flabbergasted blunette with her back facing her.

Again, she was left speechless. They were standing close to each other she could even smell the sweet fragrance from that brunette's tresses. It almost made her knees weak. _O-oh god... This is just too much..._

Noticing there wasn't any further action from the blunette behind her, Shizuru took a glance from over her shoulder. "Natsuki? What are you doing? And you need to give me this!" she poked out her tongue as she grabbed away the metal bat from the blunette's grasp.

Natsuki just blinked in surprise. Later on, Shizuru pulled her slightly trembling hands to place atop her arms, motioning that she was ready to swing. Her heart started to beat crazily against her rib cage. It was pounding so hard, as though it would jump out her chest anytime soon.

The touch of those trembling palms on her skin brought a blissful smile on her lips.

"A-are you sure you want to do this?" her voice was faltering, and she knew it. Her throat was getting dryer and dryer. _And I just wish she wouldn't notice that I'm fucking trembling right now..._

Shizuru didn't look back but a soft smile was adorned on her face when she replied, "Yes."

Natsuki just stared at the shiny chestnut hair before her. She took a deep breath, relaxed. She inhaled the sweet scent, trying to memorize it. Her lips curved upwards into a smile. Her hands were no longer trembling. She wrapped her palms against the silky smooth skin, appreciating the moment, the feeling of having that brunette in her arms.

_I just wish that you know how much I want this to happen in my life..._

"Okay. Ready now?"

"Always."

* * *

They were sitting at the nearest bench, watching a certain blunette giving some pointers to her brunette companion as she swing the bat, hitting the ball to homerun. Mikoto already laid rest on the orange head's lap, sleeping peacefully while Alyssa was resting her back against the cage, book in her hands.

Chie leaned in to the orange head next to her and whispered. "Natsuki's dream just comes true, huh?"

Mai giggled happily. "I'm sure it is…" she whispered back.

* * *

She was watching them play. Happy smiles and laughs. She tried to smile too but the muscles in her face were not going to comply. Her brows unconsciously creased. She tried to look away but somehow, there was like a power which holding her head in place.

Suddenly, she felt heavy. There was a knot in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't connect her gut feeling to what was wrong. The hairs on the back of her neck weren't standing up, but she did feel as though something was not quite right.

_Something is definitely wrong with me…_

Then she saw it.

She knew that kind of look. She knew exactly what it meant. The way they talked to each other. The way she would stare at her longingly... The way she would smile and laugh at her jokes… and sadly, she knew that smile was for that person only.

The unfamiliar pain seeped in. Her hand unconsciously pressed against her chest and she clutched her shirt into her hand.

So tight, the fabric was crumpled.

Deep inside, she could hear something.

…The shattering sound.

* * *

**Okay. Tell me what you guys think about this one. ****Guess who is the person in the last section of this chapter? ^_^**

**Sorry, this chapter is not being proofread. My bad. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Oh wow... guys... my email was flooded with so many PMs. I know, I know. I have pissed some of the readers for coming back so late. So, long story short, here is the new chapter~ ^_^**

**Anyway, about the previous chapter, I'm happy with the reviews regarding the scene at the end of the chapter. I wouldn't give the answer because I want you guys to keep guessing. (Besides, that monologue doesn't necessarily mean came from one person only. It could be two... or more? *wink*)**

**Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I'm obviously not the owner of Mai-Hime or Sunrise.**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

_"I'm officially missing you…"_

She lightly tapped the tip of her pen against the smooth surface of mahogany table top. Her eyes were staring intently at the calendar. She bit her lower lip in anticipation. Sometimes, she would shift from looking at the calendar to the cell phone atop her table.

_It's been a week now…_

She let out a sigh, slowly rubbing her palm together and brought them closer to her chin. She breathed in deeply, her thought was racing and it was incoherent. She just couldn't figure out why.

A soft sigh passed her lips again. She closed her eyes.

_What is wrong with me? _

* * *

"Plain sex with random stranger or sex with the person you love? Go!"

That question was random, not a type to be asked so early in the morning. Not to mention in a restaurant with a lot of people in it. It was so out of place for other people who actually came to have a breakfast and it was literally destroying the morning peacefulness in that restaurant into pieces.

The other 3 girls at the counter slowly turned their heads around to look at the red haired girl who initiated such a bold question. Hence, more awkward silence ensued.

"_Excuse_ me?" Mai uttered in confusion, placing down a plate she had wiped dry.

Nao shrugged her shoulders, "Sex with random stranger or with someone you love? Just answer it!"

Both Natsuki and Chie frowned, looking at each other incredulously.

"Uh, how about _NO_?" Natsuki retorted, shaking her head, slowly taking a sip of her coffee.

"Wuss!" Nao scowled.

Natsuki just side-eyed the red head and she continued with her breakfast.

"Why?" Chie added, looking as confused as a cat emerging from the dryer.

Nao let out a heavy sigh, "I'm just asking, okay? It's kinda boring right now and I have to attend three meetings today! Come on! Just answer my question. It's not like I'm going to charge for each answer!"

Mai giggled and shook her head, "Of course with the person you love, _duh_?"

"Second that!" Chie grinned.

All the attention quickly turned to Natsuki who was enjoying her breakfast.

"You mutt?"

Placing down her cup, Natsuki took a deep breath, "Definitely with the person you love."

"Urgh, what the hell?" Nao groaned, "Sex with the person you love is boring. It's like having sex with your teddy bear!"

Mai raised an eyebrow, "Oh? You had sex with your _TEDDY BEAR?_"

Both Chie and Natsuki instantly choked on their drinks.

Nao shot them an angry glare, "No, I don't mean it _that_ way... It's just that where is the excitement of having the same person in your bed every day? It's plain boring. Random sex is wild! Pure lust! You don't have to think about pleasuring the other person. No cuddling and talking about how great it was. I don't want to feel the connection or emotion whatsoever. It's just stupid."

"Wow, Nao… You look _very_ Shane today," Chie grinned, holding up her laugh while Natsuki already burst into giggle fit.

Nao fought valiantly to control the blush on her face, "Well, at least I'm not like that _certain person_ who is still an 'extra virgin'… Like olive oil," she smirked, glancing at the aforementioned girl who was slowly calming down from all the laughing.

Natsuki brought up her cup again, "Well, I have to admit that I have never been to the 'forbidden city' that is known as the _vagina_ nor letting anyone to explore _my _city." She took another sip of the coffee,

"I prefer to keep it for someone special—"

"—and that person is Fujino?" Nao interjected with a sly smile.

_**SPRAY~**_

It was a close call for Mai who was standing right before the raven-haired girl. With her marvelous dodging skill, she managed to effortlessly escape the incoming coffee spray from the tomato face Natsuki.

"Oh my god, Mai! I'm so-_*cough*_-rry!" She coughed hard while her other two friends were laughing hard and could barely breathing.

Mai giggled as she waved her hand, "Don't worry… I barely got hit…" she handed over a napkin to the coughing blunette.

"Haish~ You are so predictable, mutt… It's exhausting to talk with you. I'm out now…" Nao leaped off her chair, carrying together her purse and coat.

"Nao, wait!" Natsuki called.

"WHUT?" An annoyed reply came from Nao, her feet halted at the exit.

"Good luck with your three meetings…" A playful grin from Natsuki and Nao almost lost it. She harrumphed, roughly pushing the door open and thumping her way out the restaurant.

"Hahaha~ that feels so good…" Natsuki chuckled, picking up her glass of lukewarm water and slowly taking a sip. Chie also giggled as she continued eating her breakfast.

Mai shook her head, "Could you both stop bickering with each other at least for a day? Aren't you guys getting tired with it? Every time you guys meet, there must be something you want to argue about."

"Well, it's because she always goes up against my ass and pissing me off every now and then. I'm not going to let her get away just like that," Natsuki raised her brows to her friend, as if emphasizing her statement.

"Seriously though, you and Nao are like an old married couple. Arguing over almost everything," she took a bite of her sandwich, "And I think you guys look good together too…" Chie tried to hide a smirk.

Natsuki halted her breakfast and she slowly turned to look at her friend and shot her a menacing look. "Really, Harada? _REALLY?_"

Chie could no longer contain her laugh, she cackled.

* * *

"No phone call, no message or email… Where have you been? I've been searching for you for almost a week now and out of nowhere, you walked in to my office and gave me this?" Eyebrows raised in disbelieve and she picked up a small key-chain; a shiny metal elephant with a small engraving stated 'THAILAND'.

A corner of Anh's mouth shot up into a smile, "Just a little getaway after some meetings… I was kind of in need of rest…"

Shizuru sighed, "You should at least inform us about it. Don't just go MIA without notice. Even your secretary had no idea where you were… If there is anything happened in the company, how am I going to contact you?"

Instead of answering, Anh's smile grew wider. "Don't worry. I won't leave my work unfinished before going somewhere… You got nothing to worry about…"

Anh's nonchalant answer cut the whole conversation short and they fell into silence. The antique grandfather clock was slowly ticking. The sound was like piercing through the stillness.

Crimson met grey.

"Is there something wrong, Anh?" Shizuru was the first to speak. She was concerned when the person who was sitting before her was acting not like her usual self. At least, she thought so.

Anh's thin brows rose. She clasped her hands together, resting them atop her lap.

"Why would it be? There is nothing wrong. Why do you ask?" Anh chuckled lightly.

Shizuru narrowed her eyes, unconvinced. Anh's apathetic look seemed a bit off to her and she was not content to believe there was nothing happened. But it was definitely not her preference to impose more than she was allowed to. She was not a type of person who likes to pry around other people's business. She believed that Anh would come to her if she feels like sharing anything that had been crowding her mind. _And I'm pretty sure she will… _

"Is there anything else? I would like to go back to my hotel and call it a day." Anh stretched up her arms, yawning.

Taking a deep breath, Shizuru slowly shook her head, "No. It's nothing. You can go now…" Her crimson eyes scrutinized the young brunette before her intently.

_I'm positive now, something IS wrong…_

Anh noticed the look. Her lips could barely contain a smile. "Since it's still early, I think I would go out and have a little snack…"

"You haven't had a breakfast yet?" Shizuru's brows twitched slightly.

Anh just shook her head, making her way towards the door, "Maybe I should go to Kagutsuchi… They have delicious breakfast sets, right?"

Shizuru's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I think so…" her tone was a bit hesitant.

"Well, you want to come along?" Anh's smile grew wider.

Blinking a couple of times, Shizuru quickly shook her head, declining the offer, "No, thank you. I've already had mine earlier…" She smiled.

Anh shrugged, "Okay then… See you tomorrow…" and she closed the door.

The office was quickly engulfed by the silence again. Many thoughts raced inside her mind and she started to feel dizzy. Her eyes glanced at the grandfather clock, _10.15 am…_

Anh had left the office at 9.45 am. She didn't realize that she actually had been sitting on that chair, quiet and still for almost 30 minutes.

Sighing, she took her car keys and her purse.

_She just wants to have a breakfast there and why are you being so agitated about it, Shizuru?_

* * *

The question left unanswered as she walked out the office hastily, closing the door behind her.

"Okay, gotta go!" Chie looked at her wrist watch and she jumped off her chair.

"Where are you going?" Natsuki asked, placing down her emptied cup atop the counter.

Chie slowly put on her cardigan, "I got a new model for this photo shoot project. I have to pick her up at the airport." She let out a sigh as she picked up her stuff from the counter top. "And I decided to give her a little tour around this town first…"

Natsuki snorted almost instantly, "Yeah… by _a little tour_ you mean to take her directly to your bed?"

There was a short pause while Chie looked a bit stunned with the sudden statement from Natsuki. Then slowly, a wide grin adorned her handsome face.

"Oh no… Did I just give you the idea to do so!? Oh my god…" Natsuki groaned in frustration as she buried her face in her palms.

Chie laughed, patting Natsuki's shoulder in appreciation, "Thank you my friend! You are the best! I'll spare you no detail next time we meet!" She hopped towards the door, laughing happily.

After a few moments, Mai came out from the kitchen, noticing Natsuki was holding her head, "What's with the long face, Natsuki? Got indigestion?"

"What the hell, Mai?" Natsuki scowled at the orange head and Mai just laughed. She was about to retort when the doorbell chimed, indicating someone was walking in.

"Welcome—oh? Anh-san! Good morning!" Mai's voice was cheerful as she greeted the woman.

Natsuki turned her head around, noticing the young brunette gracefully walked towards the counter with a bright smile on her face. _Ah, haven't seen her around lately… _She couldn't help but to smile too.

"Ara, Natsuki-chan… Happy to see me?" Anh just couldn't get the chance to slip away, quickly teased.

Natsuki's brows creased almost immediately. "Don't flatter yourself. Why would I be happy to see you?"

Taking the empty seat right next to the raven-haired girl, Anh let out a sigh, "Mou, I thought I saw you smiled at me just now. What a bummer…" she pouted.

Natsuki almost spill the water out of her mouth when she saw that pout, "Oi! Stop acting cute! It's gross!"

Anh quickly burst into laugh. "I'm sorry!" and she continued to giggle at Natsuki's irritated face.

"Anh-san? Would you like to have anything?" asked Mai.

"Ara, yes! I haven't had my breakfast yet so I would like to order a special breakfast set, please?" Anh said with a huge smile.

"It might take a moment though." Mai smiled apologetically.

"I can wait." Anh flashed a toothy grin.

Chuckling while taking note of the order, Mai gave a bow and she walked into the kitchen to prepare the food.

"Are you _that_ hungry? You ordered a special set. That's a lot of food, you know?" Natsuki frowned questioningly.

Anh wrinkled her nose as she shrugged, "I just got off the plane and haven't had anything during the whole flight. So yes, I am _that _hungry."

Natsuki managed a grin and she chuckled. "Anyway, where did you off to? Another meeting?"

"Yes, there was another meeting—oh, thank you!" Anh lowered her head slightly to the waiter who served her a cup of freshly brewed coffee. "Natsuki, could you please—" she couldn't even manage to finish her word when a container loaded with sachets of sugar and a small creamer pot were placed right before her.

Tilting her head up, she saw Natsuki gave her a Cheshire-like grin. "I know you will ask me for those," said the young raven haired girl.

Anh arched a fine eyebrow, impressed. "Hmm… telepathic much?"

"No. It's a common sense. You're having a coffee and of course you want some sugar and cream in it. Unless you love to have them black?" Natsuki playfully snickered.

"Hmph!" Anh pouted, shaking a sugar sachet, tearing the packet and pouring them into her cup.

"Anyway, where were you at? I hadn't seen you for the past week…" Natsuki asked, watching the brunette stirring her coffee. Slowly, Anh took a sip.

"So many questions… Did you miss me that much?" Carefully placing down the cup, Anh beamed an equal grin just like Natsuki gave her earlier.

"Pfft! Please!"

"Admit it… you are so eager to know where I was last week." Her grin got wider.

_What the? Damn this woman… _Natsuki merely raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow and tilted her head, silently studying the mischievous expression on that brunette's face. Finally giving in, she let out a sigh.

"Okay… I did miss you. Happy?"

Giggling like a teenage girl who happened to won a lottery, Anh took another sip from her cup. "Since you've missed me that much, would you like to give me a kiss?"

"Okay! Now you are back to your usual self, I'm outta here!" Natsuki was about to jump off her chair when Anh quickly grabbed the hem of her shirt, stopping her from leaving. Natsuki grumbled with an irritated look on her face.

Anh laughed heartily. Obviously she was enjoying it, teasing the other girl, seeing her annoyed yet cute expression. "I'm sorry, Natsuki. I'll be serious now…" Anh tried to endure her laughs as Natsuki slowly sat on her chair again, somewhat unconvinced with Anh overly giddy looks.

"Ara… That was fun…" Anh sighed happily, "Okay, I was off for a meeting in Singapore and I took a little break in Thailand. I bought you something though!"

"Really? What is it? A superbike?" Natsuki grinned playfully, chuckling afterwards when Anh shot her a glare.

"Who would go for a holiday in Thailand just to buy a superbike?" Anh asked in disbelieve while Natsuki laughed.

"I don't know? You?"

Anh shook her head in amusement, "Not really, but close enough though…" she slipped her hand into her hand bag. She retrieved a small stainless steel key-chain, a classic carving of retro designed bike. She handed it over to the happy blunette. Natsuki smile grew wider into an ecstatic grin.

"Awesome! Is it expensive?" asked Natsuki innocently.

Anh chuckled lightly at Natsuki's cute expression, "No, it's not. It's just a key-chain, Natsuki. It's nothing."

Natsuki's face turned solemn, "Dang it. I thought I was going to sell it because it sure does look expensive to me…"

"Okay, that's rude!" Anh mocked an angry face and Natsuki burst into laughs again.

* * *

_Attraction._

_An invisible magnetism that brought two people or more together. Friends, lovers or even haters..._

_I can't believe it actually happened to me. That sudden fascination towards a person, randomly hits you without notice. _

_Mutual or sexual, maybe something in between… I just couldn't put a finger on it. _

_It's confusing… and tiring. But yet, the best feeling in the world. _

…_and I don't want it to stop._

* * *

She placed her keys on the table, following with a loud sigh.

"Finally... Those stupid, perverted businessmen really make me want to choke a baby!" Nao grumbled inwardly as she made her way towards her chair and rested fully against the smooth, somewhat cold leather. Her eyes were tired. She threw her sight to the ceiling, staring at it with an empty stare. Her eyes started to flutter, slowly giving in to her tiredness. _Too much information and works need to be done... Maybe I should report to Fujino and ask for a half-day off today..._

Her eyes suddenly opened wide. _REPORT TO FUJINO!_

She scrambled to get off her chair, collecting the papers which scattered across the table. She was literally running towards the door which was firmly closed before turning the knob and only to be presented with an empty office.

"What the—" She blinked in confusion. Nao flicked the small watch on her left wrist, "11.15 and she already left the office? That's very unlikely of her..." she said, mostly to herself as she wandered inside the office to place the documents she collected from the three meetings she attended earlier.

"Eh, Yuuki-san? You're back from the meeting?" A soft, female voice came from the entrance.

"Do you know where she went, Ichihara-san?" asked Nao to the brown haired woman.

The lady by the name of Ichihara just shook her head, "But I think I heard her said to one of the staffs that she wanted to go to have a breakfast or something. I'm sorry, I'm not so sure..." and she headed out the office.

Nao's brows twitched, "Breakfast?" And it kept her pondering. Shizuru never had a breakfast this late. _Unless she wants to get fat or something... Besides, I think I saw her usual morning beverage on her desk before I went out?_

_Whatever! _Finally decided to shook the thought off her head, Nao walked out the room and strode back to her table. As much as she tried not to think about it, it came back flooding inside her mind, making random thoughts and assumptions.

_Her usual place for breakfast... _Her brows were knitted tightly as she contemplated. Suddenly her eyes brightened.

_Kagutsuchi!_

* * *

"Do you want to know who I hooked up with during my time in Thailand?" asked Anh as she scooped the _omurice _into her mouth.

Natsuki blinked a couple of times, pulling out her cell phone and she pretended to dial on a series of numbers, "Hello, is this 1-800-I-Don't-Give-A-Fuck?"

"Rude," Anh just pouted as she chewed on her food. "Anyway, I also bought something for Alyssa-chan."

"What? Is it a key-chain too? You are really cheap for someone who is so freaking rich!" Natsuki frowned at Anh's delighted face.

"No. I bought her a pair of T-shirt. Bangkok's Hard Rock Café!"

"What? You managed to grab my sister a T-shirt and yet you couldn't get another pair for me?" Natsuki countered with faux annoyance in her voice.

"It's because I don't know your measurement! You should let me measure your body first then I'll be happy to buy any kind of clothing you want..." the brunette exclaimed with a predatory grin on her face, eyeing the female figure before her with hungry eyes.

Natsuki flinched slightly at the sight of that grin. "Why do I have this feeling that your words are not as innocent as it should be..." her emerald eyes narrowed incredulously towards the brunette as she crossed her arms in front of her body, more like protecting it.

Anh just shrugged with a laugh, "Is it a crime for me to appreciate such heavenly body blessed by god? You should be flattered!"

"Oh my god! You sounded so gay, you know!?" Natsuki made a disgusted face before she came to her realization of what had came out of her mouth.

She slowly inched closer to Anh. "Are you?" The question came out almost like a whisper.

Anh raised an eyebrow, somewhat amused, "Maybe."

A short reply and a wink, pretty much what needed to make Natsuki's shoulders dropped, mouth gaping slightly.

"Are you serious?"

"No."

"_What the hell!?_"

"Are you?" Anh raised both her brows questioningly. Countering the question with another question, leaving the raven haired girl completely baffled.

"Why is this _suddenly all about me_ now?" Natsuki frowned. _Don't tell me she noticed how I've been gaga about Shizuru? Am I really that obvious?_

Lips curved up into a meaningful smile, "I'm curious!" Anh had finished her breakfast and she pushed away the empty plate slightly, resting her arms against the cold marble counter top, focusing on the fidgeting raven haired girl beside her.

"I-uh..." Her mouth was itching. For once, she didn't know the answer. Not because she wasn't sure. It was because of the questioner. She didn't know whether she should give her a definite answer or just simply ignoring it. Anh was not the right person for her to have such conversation with. At least not yet. The fact that Anh was close to Shizuru was holding her back from saying it out loud. _What if she tells Shizuru about it? I wonder how Shizuru will respond... Will she be disgusted? Will she—oh god, I just don't want to think about it..._

Natsuki was always proud being herself. Not really in a flamboyant way like Chie but if there was anyone ever question her about it, she would state it flatly with no room for doubts.

She likes girls. A fact which she had learned on her 16th birthday when Nao brought her to a strip club as her birthday present. As much of her being overly embarrassed, having pretty girls giving you a lap dance was pretty exciting. _And hot._

A small tap on the counter quickly brought her back to the reality. Natsuki tilted her head and saw Anh smiled at her, more like a grin.

A playful grin. Too playful for her liking. _Or more like a 'knowing' grin? _Natsuki frowned slightly. _I'm thinking too much..._

_Ara? _"Took you long enough to answer... Am I offending you?" her voice slowly turned into a concerned one when she saw such uneasiness on Natsuki's face. _Maybe I went way too far... She seems uncomfortable... _

Natsuki blinked, trying to register with what Anh had meant. "Oh, no-no! I'm not... It's just—"

_~RING~_

Saved by the bell. Literally.

"Welcome! Ah, Fujino-san~!" said Mai from behind the counter, instantly pulling away both Natsuki and Anh's attention from each other. They turned to look at the doorway at the very same time.

Shizuru was standing at the doorway, eyes quickly darting at the close proximity between Natsuki and Anh at the counter. _I thought so. _

"Ara? I thought you said you didn't want to come along?" Anh didn't wait for long, teasing the calm brunette with a knowing remark.

Decided to ignore it, Shizuru slowly made her way towards the counter, "Is this seat taken, Natsuki?" she asked the dumbfounded blunette.

"No-no! Please, have a seat!" Natsuki quickly cleared up her stuff from the chair, collecting her helmet and her riding jacket to reserve the seat for Shizuru. A bright smile ensued. Natsuki almost fainted.

_That GODDAMN smile!_

Now both brunettes had sitting on Natsuki's left and right, with addition of Mai, standing behind the counter, staring awkwardly at the three people in front of her.

"Anyone wants to order?"

Anh was the first, chuckling as she stood up and collecting her belongings on the counter, "No, thank you, Mai-san. Actually, I think I have to go. Can I get the bill? Anyway, great food as always!" she beamed at the orange head.

"Yes, right away, Anh-san. Just a second!" Mai walked away quickly to check the bill.

"Natsuki?"

"Yeah?" Both Natsuki and Shizuru turned to look at the caller at the same time. Grey eyes met the crimson orbs. Anh caught the stare and she just smiled. The stare she understood so well which brought the curve on her lips to widen more.

"I'll pass Alyssa's T-shirt to you later, is it ok?"

"Yeah, yeah! Sure, no problem! And thanks a lot for this one too!" Natsuki grinned widely, gesturing at the metallic key-chain, dangling together with her other keys which she had them clipped earlier.

Anh smiled again as she lovingly patted the Natsuki's cheek, "You are welcome!" She earned a small slap on her hand afterwards from the girl herself. She quickly chuckled at the cute, annoyed face.

"Here's the bill, Anh-san! Thank you for coming!" Mai bowed her head to the brunette as she received the payment.

Keeping away the receipt, Anh turned to face the other brunette, "See you tomorrow, Shizuru!"

"See you tomorrow, Anh." Shizuru replied with a slight wave as Anh made her way to the door.

There was a thick silence between the two of them as the ring of the doorbell slowly disappeared. While Natsuki was too shy to start, Shizuru just didn't know what to ask.

"Here's your tea, ma'am!" A waitress placed a cup of green tea right in front of the brunette, startling her a bit. Giving a quick nod, Shizuru replied her 'thank you' and her attention quickly shifted to the girl next to her.

"What did she give you?" Shizuru was surprised by her own tone when she asked. It sounded a little colder than she intended to. She didn't know where it came from and it confused her. _Ara... I hope she didn't notice..._

Natsuki indeed didn't notice it but not her orange haired friend. Mai was standing not too far but yet close enough to hear the conversation between Natsuki and Shizuru while eyeing them through the corner of her eyes, pretending to wipe dry the dishes which had been dried for umpteenth times. In short, she was eavesdropping. She was trying her best to not slipping the dish off her hands when she heard it. _Oohh... someone is jealous?_

Natsuki picked up the key-chain, "You mean this? She bought it when she was in Thailand! She also bought Alyssa a T-shirt too!" she exclaimed happily, juggling the keys in her palm.

Shizuru still had her own keys in her hand. She grazed the outline of the key-chain Anh gave her earlier, "Ara... I see..."

Shizuru's short answer quickly brought them into silence again. Natsuki didn't know what had caused them into this. She was sure they were okay before, especially after that batting game they had together with the others. _Did I miss something? I might not know her that well but I've been such a diligent stalker when I was her delivery girl, so I could easily tell that she's in a little bad mood right now..._

"Too much work?"

Shizuru blinked a couple of times, "Ara, I'm sorry?" she asked back, looking straight into a pair of clear emerald eyes which staring back in concern.

Shaking her head slightly and quickly looking away, Natsuki let out a nervous chuckle, "I mean do you have a lot of work back in the office? You seem tired..." she fiddled with the keys in her hands before she added, "Nao did mention that she has to attend three meetings today."

_Ara... Those meetings. I wonder how it is going... It supposed to be finished by now. _She tilted her head slightly to look at the clock on the wall. _11.55 already. _

"A little bit..." She replied with a smile.

Natsuki nodded, "I thought so. Don't push yourself too hard. You should go have a little break like Anh-san. Go have a holiday or something. Too much work might cramp your brain, you know?"

Shizuru chuckled lightly at the comment, "Say the one who used to have 3 jobs in her hand..." she retorted and Natsuki instantly blushed.

"I'm saying it based on firsthand experience, okay? I don't want you to get sick one day because of too much work." _Okay, did I just say it? God, I really want to slap my own mouth sometimes..._

Shizuru raised her brows slightly, a bit surprised with the statement from Natsuki. She felt a slight tug in her stomach. Surprisingly, it felt very pleasant. "Ara, I didn't know you're worried about me that much, Natsuki... I'm flattered," she giggled, earning another full blast of redness on Natsuki's cheeks.

Natsuki tried to fight with her blush, "Nothing weird with a friend being extra care for another friend, right—"

_~CLANK!_

A clanking sound came from the counter and it caught their attention. Mai was grinning, flashing her white, perfect set of teeth as she waved her hands to the curious customers, "Sorry, soapy hands!" and she bent down to collect the cutlery on the floor.

Although it was brief, Natsuki noticed an angry glare from her orange haired friend and it pretty much spoke; _'What the hell is going on with you? A friend being extra care for another friend? Are you freaking kidding me?'_

Natsuki gulped, realizing her mistake, "So, you need to take care, okay?" she ended it there, trying to avoid more embarrassment coming out her mouth.

Shizuru giggled again, "Okay, _Natsuki..._" and she slowly took a sip of her tea as they fell into silence.

Realizing Mai had been listening all along, Natsuki gave her friend a quiet stare, which spoke volume of her need of help. Mai replied with another stare, blatantly declining to help because she also didn't know what to do.

"Um, Natsuki... Are you free tonight?" Shizuru suddenly asked and—

~_CRASH!_

Like a deer being caught in the headlights, Mai beamed another grin when the entire being in that restaurant turned to look at the crashing sound which came from the counter. This time, she slipped a plate and it went broken on the floor. She waved her hands for the second time that day, "Sorry, soapy hands, _AGAIN_!" and she quickly disappeared into the kitchen while one of her waitress took the responsibility to clean the broken plate.

Natsuki blinked as she tried to register the whole commotion and Shizuru's question earlier because she didn't quite hear it, "Sorry? I didn't quite catch your words, Shizuru..." she asked.

Shizuru smiled, slowly leaning in closer to the raven haired girl, "I asked whether you are free tonight?" she said in rather low, husky tone. Quite seductive to one's ear which was Natsuki's. The latter swallowed whatever that had been stuck in her throat as her brain tried to work on an appropriate answer instead of gibberish reply.

Pulling back slightly from the smiling brunette, Natsuki tried to utter her question properly even though the view in front of her was pretty much distracting and it was distorting her mind from thinking straight. _Since when did I think straight? Nothing in my life is considered 'straight'. It's a complete mess, zig-zagging all the way from the beginning to the very moment right now. The straightest thing that ever happened to me is falling straight in love to Fujino Shizuru..._

"Yes, I'm free tonight!" Natsuki gulped again, "Is there anything?"

A satisfied smile appeared on her luscious pinkish lips, "I would like to take you out for a dinner..."

* * *

**Took me long enough, yes?**

**Sorry, this chapter is not being proofread. My bad. (Kindly point out my mistakes if you guys find it, okay? Really appreciate it!)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay everyone! New chapter is up! Thanks a lot for your review regarding the previous chapter. I'm sorry I couldn't reply to each and one of them personally. I'm quite busy with my work. Urgh~!**

**Happy reading!**

**Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Mai-HiME.**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

_"Think of how differently it would be if you never met the one person who changed everything..." _

* * *

She stared at the luxurious interior with slightly gaping mouth. _Never in my mind would I dream of being in this place… _She would occasionally look around, checking out other people inside the building with amazement. She noticed the classy and expensive clothing around her while she was wearing her casuals; black tank-top, her favorite worn-out leather jacket, complemented with a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and her biker boots. She glanced down at her own clothing. She swallowed a painful lump inside her throat.

_Great._

She felt a slight apprehension slowly seeping in. Her confidence was already gone out the window by the moment she stepped in that restaurant. She didn't know Shizuru would take her there. It never crossed her mind at all. _I should've asked… _She mentally sighed.

At that moment, Shizuru had been watching how Natsuki's expression would change occasionally whilst looking around the area like a curious puppy. _So cute… _She just could not contain her smile when she noticed Natsuki started to get a little fidgety on her seat, a sign of her nervousness she presumed.

"Are you cold, Natsuki?" A mischievous smirk barely hidden on her lips but it was missed by the other person at that table.

Natsuki quickly shook her head, "No-no-no, I'm not. It's just—" her words stopped halfway as she glanced around the lavish restaurant again.

Shizuru raised her eyebrows in curiosity, "What is it?"

Natsuki leaned forward, her eyebrows dropped into uncomfortable look, "I've never been in this kind of place before… It feels weird…" she said it in a whisper, earning a soft chuckle from the brunette.

"It's nothing, Natsuki. Just the same like Kagutsuchi, except with—"

"Much-much more expensive set of food!" Natsuki said between gritted teeth, "You should've told me that you're taking me to this place! I don't want you to waste so much money just for a dinner!"

At that very moment, Shizuru burst into laughs but she quickly muffled them with her palm, trying not to disturb the serene atmosphere in that restaurant. Natsuki scowled at the giggling brunette. She could feel an upcoming heat towards her cheeks, slowly warming up her skin.

Shizuru shook her head slightly after her laughs subsided, "Don't worry about it, Natsuki. Actually, I got this complimentary pass for a free dinner for two."

Natsuki quirked an eyebrow, "Oh, really?"

"Yes! Our company has been such a loyal customer to this restaurant. We often hold a lot of social events and dinner parties here," Shizuru grinned brightly to Natsuki's dumbfounded face.

"I see… Okay then! As long as you don't have to pay for it, I'm all good." Natsuki smiled happily.

"I am not. It's all free…" Shizuru waved her hands as she chuckled.

Though she was all smiling, she was a tad worried if Natsuki would find out that the dinner was actually prepaid. She already had the dinner planned to be served course by course, all according to her favorite and a little knowledge about Natsuki's favorite food too. _I must say that all the credit is to Tokiha-san. She suddenly came to me and said that Natsuki likes everything with mayonnaise. She's so perceptive. I'm really impressed! But I can't let Natsuki eat everything with mayonnaise, can I? It's so unwholesome!_ She mentally cringed at the thought.

Shizuru watched the younger girl again as the latter was fiddling with her silver cutlery. Sometimes she would skillfully spin them around her fingers, leaving the brunette watching with amazement. _I hope she would never find out that I'm still paying for this dinner. Seriously, where is this complimentary dinner came from? This restaurant owner is so stingy, I never even get one._

Shizuru silently chuckled.

* * *

They were on their second course and Natsuki already felt like dying. _I wonder if she eats this every day! This could not be compared with heavenly food that is Mai's cooking!_

She stared at the platter, garnished with two pieces of _what the hell is this_? _Many dots of—what is that? Ketchup? And on top of that, what the hell is this piece of leaf doing here in my plate? Does it even have a purpose in this dish? Oh my god… Let me die now…_

"Those are mint leaves…"

Natsuki quickly ripped her sight from the dish and to the person right across the table. Shizuru curved up a smile at Natsuki's flabbergasted look as she took a sip of water.

"Mint? Does it taste like toothpaste?"

That was all it took to make the ever calm and elegant Fujino Conglomerate's heiress to choke on her water, multitasking between laughing and coughing at the same time. Shizuru was coughing so hard, earning quite an attention from other people in that restaurant.

"Oh my god, Shizuru! Are you okay?" Without hesitation, Natsuki instantly went for a napkin and she handed it to the brunette while patting her back to ease the coughing.

Shizuru quickly waved her hand, "I-I'm okay… I'm okay, Natsuki…" she managed to speak despite of heavy coughing she had.

Natsuki was unconvinced. She kept staring up at the brunette with a worried scowl on her face, still not moving from her spot where she was crouching next to Shizuru's seat.

"Are you sure? Your face is so red. Do you need more water or something? I can go ask the waiter—" She was about to stand up when a hand quickly wrapped around her right arm, stopping her from going.

"I'm okay… Please have seat, Natsuki…" Shizuru said pleadingly, tugging the arm with a gentle tug.

_Eh? _Natsuki did a double take at the soft hand around her right arm which she hadn't noticed it earlier. Another set of warmth shot up to her face again and she was sure her cheeks were shaded with bright red color. Quickly looking away, Natsuki obliged,

"O-okay! I'll take a seat…" she awkwardly staggered to her chair and looked at everywhere but Shizuru's face.

Shizuru managed a smile, more like an accomplished smile when she saw the blushing cheeks. _I think it's starting to become my number one priority to make her blush everyday…_

"Stop staring…"

A soft mumble quickly caught her attention. Shizuru blinked.

"Ara, what is it?"

Natsuki scowled at the brunette, "You! You've been staring at me with this weird grin on your face!"

_Oh my… Am I that obvious? _Shizuru could barely hold a smile, "No, I'm not staring at you. I'm staring at your cheeks. They are red. It's cute!"

"I am not! You're the same like Anh! It's so annoying!" Natsuki blew a breath, annoyed.

Shizuru giggled as she continued with her food, _and_ with her staring. She almost choked on a small bit of the meat when Natsuki shot her a sharp glare which spoke volume of her irritation. Shizuru raised her palm in defeat and started to eat her dinner again. She occasionally would give a glance or two at the raven haired girl, smile never left her face.

_Seriously, this woman is much-much worse than Anh! _She decided to brush the thought away since her stomach was already grumbling, demanding for food. Natsuki picked up a fork and prodded the white meat or _whatever that thing was_, she just did not know.

"I'm sorry but what is this?"

Slowly munching on her share, Shizuru replied, "It's scallop."

"Scal—what?" Natsuki frowned.

"_S-c-a-l-l-o-p_, Natsuki…" Shizuru just couldn't handle it anymore, she chuckled, much louder this time. "Just try it. It tastes great!"

And with that, she chomped down in one huge bite. Natsuki's face contorted with each chew as she munched on the scallop, like she was chewing a failed cooking by 6 years old kid.

"How is it?"

Natsuki struggled for a smile as she swallowed, "Lovely."

Shizuru burst into laughs again.

* * *

Despite all the ridiculousness which was Shizuru's choice of food, Natsuki found the dessert was the best. It was a chocolate soufflé with coffee ice-cream and it instantly became her favorite that night.

"Oh wow! This coffee ice-cream is great too!" said Natsuki as she took another spoonful into her mouth.

Shizuru could finally breathe at ease. At last Natsuki could eat something and enjoying it. She could see how uncomfortable Natsuki was throughout the dinner and how she obviously couldn't enjoy each course. Now she regretted her decision for bringing Natsuki to that restaurant.

"I'm sorry, Natsuki…"

Her spoon halted midair towards her mouth when she heard it, "Hah? What for?"

Shizuru smiled apologetically, "For taking you here. I thought you would enjoy it… I was so full of myself when I made the decision. I did not even think twice of the possibility you might not liked it…"

Natsuki instantly put down her spoon, "No! Don't say that—" Natsuki quickly cupped her mouth when her voice came out a tad louder than she intended.

"Sorry…" she mouthed out to the curious eyes around her as she bowed her head a couple of times. Shizuru smiled sweetly, finding it cute when she saw Natsuki apologizing to the other customers.

Turning to face the brunette again, Natsuki scowled, "Anyway, back to our conversation. You don't have to be sorry. I'm glad you take me here. At least, I have tasted something I never had before."

"Like 'toothpaste' mint and scallop?" Shizuru quirked an eyebrow, smiling.

Natsuki chuckled, "Yeah. Especially those two."

And they shared laughs.

* * *

"Seriously Shizuru... Do you always eat those kinds of food every day?" Natsuki asked as they walked towards the parking lot side by side.

"Not really..." Shizuru replied with a wide smile, "But a few times a week though..."

"God..." Natsuki scratched her forehead, "I wonder how you survive with such food..."

"It's a good food." Shizuru quickly rebutted, chuckling. "And in case you want to know, what we had just now is called 'Fine Dining'."

"You called that 'Fine Dining'? It's _FINE DYING, _Shizuru!" Natsuki shook her head,

"Thank god it was free. If not, I would rather use that money and take you somewhere where we can have real food! I'll buy you real food like 50 pieces of chicken wings, dozens of heavenly taste BBQ ribs, 100 pizzas with 10 different toppings, 10 layers hamburgers, 50 bowls of Mai's special ramen, 20 teapots of your favorite tea... the possibilities are endless!" said Natsuki, pulling out her finger one by one as she contemplated with her list of food.

"Ara? So Natsuki did not enjoy having dinner with me?" said Shizuru, faking a sad tone. She sounded a bit mischievous but of course Natsuki missed to notice it. Shizuru mentally counted in her head as she waited for Natsuki's reaction.

_1, 2... 3!_

"NO! I didn't say that!" Natsuki snapped, cheeks blushing fiercely.

Shizuru instantly laughed, rejoicing her success in making Natsuki blushed for umpteenth times that night.

Natsuki watched her laughed. Her lips slowly curved upwards at the sight of that happy brunette. _Am I the only person who able to make her laughs and see her like this? _She just couldn't help but hope.

_From being my boss... then a friend..._ Natsuki inhaled deeply and quickly looked away when Shizuru's laugh started to subside.

_What's next...?_

She could feel a sharp twinge in her stomach. Suddenly, all the feelings she had felt before came rushing in.

_That sinking feeling that makes your limbs go weak and drains all your energy, and no matter what you try to distract yourself, it doesn't work for long. __Doing anything is hard because it's impossible to concentrate and doing nothing is harder because you need to be distracted—_

"Ara? Is Natsuki angry?"

She turned her head around, finding Shizuru smiled brightly at her. Despite the dimmed surroundings at the parking lot, Natsuki could see that Shizuru was worried with the sudden change of her face.

"Ah, no. I'm not... I was just thinking..."

"About what?"

_Oh damn. _She swallowed whatever that was lodged in her throat as she couldn't find a quick excuse to her mood change. Natsuki kept herself quiet as she walked a few steps ahead, leaving Shizuru behind.

"Natsuki?" Shizuru jogged to keep up with Natsuki's pace. _Is she really angry? _She started to worry. Her hand instinctively reached forward, grabbing at the hem of Natsuki's sleeve.

"Natsuki? I'm sorry—"

"Bbllpppttthhhh~!" Natsuki blew her tongue and laughed at Shizuru's stunned face. "Hahahaha~ Got you!" Natsuki quickly made a run towards her bike which was parked right beside Shizuru's car.

_That_ definitely left the brunette tongue-tied. She was gaping uncharacteristically wide. Shizuru just couldn't believe Natsuki just blew a tongue at her face. She was so surprised that she forgot to laugh.

"Natsuki! What was that?" She asked the ever grinning raven haired girl when she reached at her.

"Payback." Natsuki arched one brow, chuckling as she slipped her helmet on.

Shizuru made an 'O' with her mouth as she folded her arms, "Ara, a payback for...?"

"For constantly teasing me throughout the dinner." She grinned. Though it was concealed with the helmet, Shizuru could notice it by the crescent-shape eyes behind the visor. She chuckled.

"Never thought Natsuki is so immature..."

"Takes one to know one." Flipping up her visor, Natsuki retorted with evident mirth in her voice. With that, Shizuru went into laughs again.

Natsuki watched again. Yes. She could only watch. That smile. That beautiful sound of Shizuru's laughter. She was glad knowing she was the source of that laugh. But what more could she be? She knew she need to keep a distance though she was already in too deep to be pulled out. She knew she need to get back home despite her heart spoke otherwise. She felt heavy, mentally fighting with her conscience. _Seriously... what other excuses do I need to find so we could hang out with each other again—_

"So, what's next?"

Natsuki blinked. "W-what?"

Shizuru was beaming, "Does Natsuki have any other plan for our next outing?"

She would dance naked on that very moment if someone dared her to when she heard Shizuru's question. _Get outta my face, stupid grin! _

"What do you have in mind?" Natsuki slowly took off her helmet because talking with a helmet on surely not comfortable.

Tapping her chin, Shizuru pondered, "Since Natsuki did not enjoy having dinner with me, she needs to find a way to make things enjoyable next time..."

Natsuki sighed exasperatingly, "I didn't say that!"

"Ara? So you did enjoy having dinner with me?" Shizuru asked with a mischievous grin when she saw Natsuki's face was no longer flushed.

Taking a deep breath, Natsuki started to relax, "Dinner with you was great, but the food? Hahahahahaha... NO!"

Shizuru pouted cutely, making Natsuki almost down to her desire to kiss that brunette right there. _What the hell am I thinking?_

"Okay! Since you insisted..." Natsuki gave a quick mental listing for a moment as she tried to list down any possible activity for her and Shizuru. Few seconds later, her eyes brightened at the sudden thought.

"Hey, I think there will be a firework festival soon!" Natsuki said excitedly.

Shizuru was ecstatic, "Really? Where? When?"

"I think it will be on Saturday night. At Fuuka River, if I'm not mistaken..." Natsuki scratched her jaw, biting her lower lips as she tried to recall.

"Fireworks... It sounds nice! I wonder what other things they have there..." Shizuru leaned against her car, smiling at the thought.

Natsuki hung her helmet on the handlebar, "What? You never been in a festival before?"

Shizuru shook her head, "We always have our own fireworks right in our backyard... My mother does not fond of crowds."

"You've got to be kidding me..." Natsuki placed a palm against her forehead, "So you never play all the games in the festival? What about the food?"

Shizuru shook her head again, slightly shrugging her shoulders with a wide grin on her face.

"Seriously...?" Natsuki sighed, shaking her head in disbelieve. "So I think it is an obligation for me to take you to the festival tomorrow night..."

"It is!" Shizuru added. Her face brightened with another smile.

Natsuki snorted at the excited face. "You seriously looked like a little girl just now, Shizuru..." she laughed again.

"It's cute."

Hearing such words came from Natsuki, something weird happened deep in her chest. It was like there was a tiny marching band, playing drums and crashing the cymbals, the reverberation rippled all over her body.

* * *

_Saturday_

Chie parked her car right beside the apartment/shop lot. It was still early on that Saturday morning. She decided to prepare and set all the equipment required for the photo shoot later in the afternoon. Since one of her staff was taking a day off today, she was short-staffed. _And I have to do it all by myself…_

Shuffling keys in her hand, she walked towards the main door. She was in the middle of unlocking the gate when she heard footsteps. Really hasty footsteps were advancing towards her way, making her intention to walk in to her studio hindered. She decided to take a look around, only to be surprised by a hug.

"Chie-chan!"

* * *

Nao drove her small compact car along the quiet road. It was early and she decided to take a little jog near the park before heading to Kagutsuchi for breakfast. It was her routine for every Saturday morning. Except when she was feeling lazy or when she had someone in her bed. _I would rather do an exercise in bed instead of running around the park... _

She wasn't the health-conscious type of girl. She ate whatever she wanted but despite all that, she definitely did not want to get fat. Besides, she didn't have the courage to eat every single 'slimming pills' that ever existed because she never trusted such method, or at least someone told her not to.

"_No! Slimming pills are dangerous! You shouldn't eat those! You never know how it works on your body. Just take the traditional route! Exercise! Take care of what you're eating and you'll be good!"_

She chuckled silently at the thought. "I can't believe it came out from someone who basically eats everything with mayonnaise…" she spoke to herself, smile never left her face.

The road took her to a neighborhood which she recognized so well. It was west from Fuuka City Centre, a quiet suburb which she had learned to love. _Definitely going to move here one day… but it's far from my work place…_ She mentally sighed._ Maybe I need to find a new job…_

While she drove past the buildings, she noticed a very familiar woman was being hugged by a girl.

A small girl actually.

_What the— _Nao did a double take before turning the car around dangerously for a U-turn. Luckily there weren't so many cars on the road. She parked right behind a blue sedan and hastily stepped out the vehicle, surprising the young woman who was laughing along with the small girl.

"Don't tell me that she's your long, missing child, Harada Chie!" Nao exclaimed, gaining more surprised look from the short-haired woman.

Chie frowned at the statement, "What!? Don't be ridiculous, Nao! She's not my daughter!" she loosened her hold around the small girl.

"Chie-chan? Who is that?" asked the girl. Chie smiled brightly as she gestured at the red head.

"That is my friend. You can call her Nao-chan!"

Nao raised an eyebrow to the ecstatic girl before her.

"Nao-chan! It's nice to meet you! My name is Aoki!" she claimed the red head's right hand, shaking it frantically. It was her friendly way of greeting, or so to speak.

With her hand was still being shaken by the young girl, Nao shot a glare at her short haired friend.

"Seriously, Harada. You have a lot of explanations to do!"

Chie took a deep breath, placing her hands on both sides of her waist, "I know."

* * *

Both already got a cup of hot coffee in their hands. They decided to call for breakfast takeout from Kagutsuchi instead of going there. They watched the young girl strolling around the studio, looking around from one equipment to another with evident curiosity. A smile never left Chie's face as she watched the girl from the small corner in her studio.

"Seriously, since when you become such a pedobear? I didn't know you're desperate for a relationship that you're making one with a 7 years old girl!?" Nao exclaimed, watching through the corner of her eyes at the young girl who was scrutinizing a tripod.

Chie sighed for the umpteenth times that morning ever since she welcomed the red head into her studio, "For god sake, Yuuki Nao! Stop making such ridiculous assumptions! I am definitely not having any kind of relationship or whatever it is that has been crossing your mind! She's just a random girl I met the other day at the park. Actually, I didn't even really remember her!"

"So, how come she did remember you? Calling you 'Chie-chan' so lovingly, not to mention that…" Nao arched one brow questioningly, sipping her share of coffee.

In her mind, she quickly recalled the scene where she met Aoki for the first time. A thought quickly crossed her mind. _Oh shit._

"Aoki!" Chie called.

"Yes?" the young girl quickly walked towards Chie with a questioning look on her face.

"Does your father know where you are right now? Did you tell him where you were going?"

Aoki made a small pout as she shook her head. Chie sighed.

"Nice. Now you have a 'daddy' who is probably searching for your doomed ass, Harada..."

"Enough with my stupid exes trailing my ass every now and then... I don't want an angry dad stops by my studio one day with a pump-gun." Chie stood up from her chair and she tugged on Aoki's arm,

"Come now. I'll take you home—"

"NO!"

Both Nao and Chie almost jumped on their feet when Aoki snapped, angrily pulling away her arm from Chie's grasp. Aoki quickly moved away from those two, cowering at the corner of the studio.

"Hey, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to—" Chie paused when she crouched right next to the girl. She saw something she didn't notice earlier. Behind that short pink skirt, Aoki's left thigh was tainted with black and blue. Though it was faded, Chie knew exactly what had caused them.

"Who did this to you!?" she instantly snapped, fingers tentatively touching the bruised skin and Aoki instinctively flinched away at the touch. The pain was still there.

Aoki bit her lower lips, rigorously shaking her head.

"Someone hit her or something?" Nao asked, leaning in as she inspected the bruises, brows furrowed in worry. Though she had just met that young girl for only a few minutes and not like she knew exactly who Aoki was, abusing little kid was not something she would tolerate. Not at all.

"I don't know..." Chie swallowed as her throat started to dry. She watched Aoki's face, learning for answer. She reached out her hand, gently brushing Aoki's brown tresses.

"Okay. Listen. I won't tell anyone. Just you, me and Nao-chan here. You don't have to be afraid." Chie inched closer when she saw Aoki was no longer afraid of her touch. Slowly, she circled her arm around the petite body, pulling her into an embrace. Just like that, Aoki burst into tears, sobbing and choking uncontrollably.

"It's okay... You are safe now. I promise." Chie tightened her embrace, resting her chin atop Aoki's head. She gave Nao a look which Nao knew so well.

Nao sighed heavily, scratching her head as she flipped open her phone. She pressed on the speed dial and she placed it on her left ear.

"I see what I can do..."

* * *

They watched her eating. Evidently hungry as she scooped more and more rice into her mouth, her cheeks started to bloat.

"Hey, slowly! Nobody's going to steal your food away!" Chie chuckled at the red tinted cheeks as Aoki slowed down her eating pace.

"I'm going to meet my friends over there. Just ask the waitress to bring them for you if you want something, okay?"

Aoki nodded, "Okay."

Chie smiled again as she patted Aoki's head. She sighed heavily as she walked over to the counter where her friends were.

"Is there anything yet?"

Nao shook her head, "We just have to wait. I've called my friend at the police station. She said she will inform me as soon as there is a report of a missing child in that neighborhood."

Chie nodded her head as she sat flop at the small stool beside Natsuki.

"You don't know where her house is?" Natsuki asked. Worry was evident on her face.

"No. I don't. Last time we were halfway to her house when her father appeared and took her home by himself." Chie sighed again, slowly rubbing her aching neck.

She felt tired. Suddenly weary and very much exhausted. Maybe doing too much thinking did cost her more than physical labor. It was already past afternoon and yet no report regarding Aoki's missing. She started to wonder if Aoki's parents were that heartless. She decided to take Aoki home by herself earlier that morning but the younger girl insisted not to. Aoki was scared, knowing that if Chie sent her home, she would have to face her furious father again.

"Was she abused?" Mai asked, leaning against the counter as she watched the young brunette eating.

"No idea. She didn't tell me anything. She only told me that her father will get angry if she told anyone about it." Chie put away her glasses, slowly closing her eyes. She massaged her temple. It was throbbing. Gently she felt a soft pat on her shoulder. She shot up her gaze, finding Natsuki smiled at her.

"Don't get it too hard on yourself. We'll figure this out together, okay?" Natsuki's grasp on her shoulder got firmer. Chie quickly understood. She smiled back.

"Yeah, thanks, Natsuki..."

* * *

"Oh, okay! Thanks a lot, Irina!" and Nao ended the conversation as she flipped off her phone. She walked back to her friends. They were looking at her intriguingly.

"Her mother made a report. She's at the police station. Her husband was nowhere to be found and when she noticed that Aoki was missing too, she instantly went to the police station."

Natsuki let out a relief sigh, "Took her long enough! What was she doing?"

"She just got back from work, mutt! She found her house was in a mess. She suspected a robbery and a possible kidnapping of her husband and her daughter..." Nao added to contradict Natsuki's assumption.

"Anyway, Chie!" Nao called.

Chie instantly raised her brows in response, "Yeah?"

"Her mother's name is Aoi..."

Chie could feel her world suddenly spinning.

* * *

They had arrived at the said police station. Nao drove them there. It was a normal ride for both Nao and Natsuki but totally nerve-wracking for one Harada Chie.

She was scared. She had been silently hoping that her fear would not coming true. Everything she had kept away suddenly cracked open and came back rushing in, flooding inside her chest with incoherent emotions. Her eyes instantly seek for Aoki. She watched the young child who had fallen asleep in her arms. Realization hit her. The resemblance was unmistakable. Though she did notice it earlier when they first met but she decided to put it aside, assuming it was a total coincidence.

_How stupid of me...Why didn't I think about this earlier? Aoki... Aoi... Even the names are almost similar!_

"Okay! Wakey-wakey, Aoki-chan! Your mother is right there!" Natsuki opened the car door, patting at Aoki's cheek, gently waking the young girl.

"Unh? Mommy?" Aoki yawned slightly, causing a soft chuckle from the raven haired woman as Natsuki picked her up.

"Yup! We'll take you back to your mom, okay?"

"Is that her?" Nao pointed at the brunette haired woman who was sitting outside the building, face in her palms.

Chie could feel her lungs constricted. She found it suddenly hard to breathe as she stepped out the vehicle. _Not her... Please god, not her..._

"Come on, Chie! You need to file for a report too. I don't want Aoki's family accuse us for kidnapping..." Nao nudged at the tensed woman. Her brows furrowed at Chie's face."Oi! What is going on with you—"

"Mommy!" Aoki already made a run towards the woman outside the building.

As they watched the scene unfold, Chie stood there frozen while her fears slowly unveiled. That brown hair, those crystal blue eyes; she could identify it even in the darkest room. The smile on that woman's face as she hugged her daughter tightly, she could recognize them in a heartbeat.

_God... I miss her so much._

Suddenly the fear which had haunting her earlier dissipated. She was granted with an unknown strength which she didn't know where it came from. The urge to greet that woman was unbearable. Her hands were itching to grab that woman into her arms and never let go again.

She didn't realize while she was contemplating with her own thoughts, her legs made their own effort to walk towards the building, standing in front the woman and her daughter.

"Mommy! Here she is!"

Chie couldn't stop herself from smiling when she saw that face. The reaction she got almost made her laugh. The other woman was literally gaping as she slowly stood up eye level with Chie.

"Long time no see, Aoi..."

* * *

She was grinning. If anyone randomly saw her smiling like that, they would probably think that she was crazy. Well, actually she was indeed crazy.

She was crazy in love with somebody. Somebody who happened to text her regarding their little outing later that night, asking for details of place to meet. She texted back, couldn't help but to smile at the thought how casual it had become; phone calls and texting, setting up time and place for a meeting. Like she was on for a real date. At least that was what she thought. She didn't know how the other person might thought about it but she just settled with whatever she had right now.

"Seriously... With you grinning like that, I wonder why you're still not signing up yourself in a mental hospital?"

Natsuki shifted her eyes to the red head beside her. She flipped off her phone. Her brows furrowed as she hissed, "Shut up."

Nao scoffed at the raven haired girl as she continued filing her nails, "I heard that you got a dinner date with Fujino last night. How was it?"

Natsuki's memory quickly made a brief flashbacks, "It was awesome." She smiled.

"Awesome like she invited you back to her apartment and finished up with a 'final dessert'?"

Nao didn't have to look to know how red Natsuki's face was. And she didn't have to wait too long for Natsuki's outburst.

"NO! Why are you always concluded everything about me and Shizuru with sex!? We are definitely not heading that way!" Natsuki paused, "A-at least not yet..."

"Yeah. Keep dreaming, mutt." Nao shoved herself off the car and she walked into the police station, leaving the dumbfounded woman alone.

Natsuki frowned at the retreating figure. She was expecting more snide remarks from that red head but she received none.

* * *

"Are you done?"

Chie raised her head, staring up at Nao's concern face. She gave a weak nod.

"Yeah."

Nao walked over to sit next the short haired girl. She let out a sigh, "They left?"

"Uh huh."

Nao curved up a smirk, "You owe me an explanation about you and Aoki's mom..."

Chie sighed, "Too long to begin with..."

"Make it short."

Chie instantly snorted at Nao's insistence, "Okay! Let's go out tonight!"

Nao arched one brow questioningly, "Where to?"

"Fuuka River. They'll have a firework festival. I'll bring along Aoki and her mother too."

* * *

They had left the police station few hours ago and now she was riding back to her apartment, getting ready for the festival later that night. As she rode her bike approaching a very familiar building complex a few hundred meters ahead, her eyes lightened up. Natsuki dropped the gear, eventually came to a halt right in front a vast building which ornately built in concrete and rendered a pleasant medium gray. She smiled. This was the place where she used to go back and forth every day, working as a delivery girl. She remembered she had to climb all the way to the top floor just to send away a document because the elevator was broken. She silently snickered. _Ah, I wonder if Yamazaki-ojisan is on his shift tonight... Kinda miss him..._

She was about to move again when she spotted the grey metallic Pontiac Solstice which parked at the private parking lot which she recognized instantly.

"That's Anh's car..." Natsuki quickly maneuvered her bike in to park right beside the said car. She stared at the expensive exterior then she tilted up her head, stretching her sight at the 40 storey building. Natsuki frowned.

"What is she doing here?"

* * *

"Anh-sama was having a meeting here earlier, Kuga-san." said the receptionist, "By the way, haven't seen you around lately. Are you on leave?"

Natsuki smiled sheepishly as she scratched her cheek with her index finger, "Um yeah... kind of... Anyway, is she still in the boardroom?"

The receptionist gave a bright smile and a nod. Natsuki quickly thanked her and started to move towards the elevator. She pressed the 'Up' button and the metal door opened almost instantly. Natsuki stepped into the elevator, silently contemplating which floor should she go.

"If I'm not mistaken, the boardroom is on 35th floor..." She said to herself as she pressed the number. The whole ride was quiet as Natsuki tried to come out with a good reason to talk with Anh. She didn't know why she felt like seeing that brunette. The unknown reason which had brought her legs right outside the boardroom. She stared at the exclusive design of that door. Hand moved towards the knob and she turned it slightly, pushing it forward.

She saw a figure far across the boardroom, sitting facing the vast windows which had a direct sunset view. Natsuki smiled. She silently made her way towards the figure, having an intention to scare the person behind the chair only to be surprised when she saw a tilted head, closed eyes and a slightly opened mouth.

Anh was sleeping. Natsuki almost laughed.

She bended down to her knees as she watched the sleeping brunette. Natsuki found it a little fascinating when she saw such look for the first time. Sure Anh had this charming aura around her and she definitely could make men and women alike, doing a double take if she had a walk around the town. Natsuki was no exception, except she already learned Anh's playful nature and her being the constant target of Anh's teasing. Truth to be told, she kind of missed it if she didn't get her daily dose of Anh's teasing. One had to wonder how that brunette managed to cause such effect to one Kuga Natsuki.

"Watching someone sleeping is never romantic, you know?"

Natsuki's eyes widened almost instantly as she bolted up, only gotten herself stumbled on her feet and she fell on her bum. She could feel her cheeks burned at the sight of grinning brunette.

"How long have you been awake?"

Anh smiled wider, "Since you stepped into this boardroom." she opened her eyes fully and she stretched her arms up, "Actually I could sense your presence even though you're miles away, you know?"

Natsuki snorted at the comment as she slowly got up to her feet, "And you snore."

"Am not."

"You are."

Anh arched one brow playfully, "I am NOT," emphasizing her defense to Natsuki's claim.

"You were sleeping. How could you even hear yourself?"

"Because I'm that awesome."

Natsuki broke into laughs. "Anyway, I want to inform you that there will be a festival near the Fuuka River."

Anh rubbed her weary eyes slightly, "What festival?"

"Fireworks." Natsuki grinned, "I would like you to come along too..."

"Ara? Is Natsuki asking me out for a date?" Anh winked at the girl, slowly causing Natsuki's face to crunch into an annoyed look.

"No. Shizuru also will be there. My sister and my friends too. So, it's not a date." said Natsuki, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Ah, you cannot make me think the other way round, Natsuki-chan! And I expect a full treat tonight."

Natsuki frowned at the statement, "You're the one with lots of money and yet asking me to treat you! Just a candy though!"

"Aww... you're so stingy!"

* * *

**So, as is obvious to you guys, I decided to make this story not only about ShizNat but also trying to develop other characters. Because if I did only ShizNat, this story would end in the next one or two chapters. So yeah, I'm that evil so I want you guys to wait a little longer for the ending. XD**


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